'Courage and patriotism did not come without sacrifices'

  • Published
  • By Mary Lou Gorny
  • Hilltop Times Editor
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah --  The Mazer Memorial Chapel bell tower rang out 13 times in conjunction with the Let Freedom Ring national ceremony held simultaneously with others July 4 at 2 p.m. (EDT), thirteen times for the thirteen original colonies.

The Let Freedom Ring National Bell Ringing ceremony was congressionally mandated 50 years ago and signed by then-president John F. Kennedy, and has continued ever since.

Col. Kathryn Kolbe, 75th Air Base Wing commander, noted the solemnity of the occasion at the local ceremony with her remarks on the Declaration of Independence and the country's founding fathers.

"There are several distinct groups that we can call our founding fathers: the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, the 14 presidents of the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1789, the 55 members of the Constitutional Convention which created the United States Constitution, the 91 members of the first Congress who passed the Bill of Rights, the members of George Washington and John Adams cabinets who transformed the ideas of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights from words into actions, the individuals such as Paul Revere and others who rose up to form the state militias and respond to the invading British forces, and Betsy Ross, credited with making the first American flag," said Kolbe.

"The courage and patriotism of these individuals did not come without burdens and sacrifices," she noted as she counted off at least 11 instances in which signing members of the Declaration of Independence were called upon to sacrifice their homes, vast estates, family members' freedoms, or their own as a result of signing the document and refusing to renounce the action. Some of them died in poverty, one of them was unable to stay at his wife's deathbed and another lost his wife as a result of the effects of her imprisonment on her health.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," Kolbe said as she quoted the Declaration.

"That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and to institute a new government," she concluded from the Declaration of Independence.

Kolbe noted that among the holiday gatherings to celebrate independence that it was appropriate to thank those in service to their country for the sacrifices they are making currently.

"We are very blessed to be Americans," the colonel said.

Ralph Erickson, Utah Sons of the American Revolution member, quoted "America Rides," PBS television show host Stan Ellsworth, about his experience of standing in the room in Independence Hall where members of the Continental Congress had served by the request of the building's caretaker during filming.

The stop in Philadelphia brought an electrifying spirit to him he said later to a group of the Utah Society of the Sons of the American Revolution at their annual meeting. It seemed to him that a divine influence had inspired Thomas Jefferson as he penned the words to the Declaration of Independence.

For her part, Judy Barking, State Registrar, for the Utah Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, thanked all who contribute in any way as she talked about an ancestor who participated in the revolution, Private Henry Green.

"Without privates ... you wouldn't get very far without what the privates do," she said. "Everyone has a role to play in freedom. All of us have a job to do just like those privates did in the Revolutionary War."

Barking said communities could be bettered by individuals using their power of choice to contribute.

"Keep the freedom alive -- help keep the promise alive that we have for the next generation, the challenge to continue to provide a society in which they can help to make a difference and keep that dream alive."

The Clearfield High School Madrigal Choir sang the national anthem and other patriotic musical selections. The ceremony concluded with the traditional bell ringing timed to coincide exactly with the other national bell ringing events.