The Worthiest Sacrifice …
By Stephen L Doherty
Memorial Day – 2025
“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” – Patrick Henry, 1775
As we, rightly – recognize and honor the sacrifices made by so many on behalf of a nation still so young – the magnitude of the risks taken by our nation’s founders, are often lost in the shuffle. I think as the years pass and the distance grows between the present and our young nation’s birth – each subsequent generation of Americans is further removed from the reality of what it took for our freedoms and liberties to take root.
Today, when we think of Memorial Day – most of our focus is on 20th century American combat veterans whom we have some direct connection and familiarity with. The fading legions of America’s warriors of those recent conflicts have been reduced to a handful of aged veterans hobbling onto stages and venues across the country. Their dwindling numbers recount the fading memories of epic and pivotal bloodbaths that protected and secured our freedoms. Pearl Harbor and Normandy are still front of mind as America’s Revolutionary heroes and events are displaced by time and subsequent layers of history.
But make no mistake about it. By affixing their names to these few but powerful words, “And for the support of this Declaration with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor” the Founders themselves, committed treason against the crown – incurring the wrath of the most powerful nation on earth.
Of the 56 original signers to the Declaration of Independence, nine died of wounds or other wartime hardships. Five were captured and imprisoned, in each case with exceptionally brutal treatment. Several lost wives, sons or entire families. One lost all thirteen of his children. Two wives were brutally savaged. All, were at one time or another – victims of manhunts and driven from their homes.
Twelve signers had their homes completely burned. Seventeen lost everything they owned. Yet not one, not a single one, defected or went back on his pledged word! Their honor, and the nation they sacrificed so much to create, is still intact. At the very least, their sacrifice should mandate knowledge and appreciation of it from the subsequent generations of American citizens who reaped the benefits.
The story of New Jersey signer, Abraham Clark – is but one example. He gave his only two sons to the officer corps in the Revolutionary Army. They were captured and sent to that infamous British prison hulk afloat in New York harbor known as the Hell Ship “Jersey,” where 11,000 American captives were to die. The younger Clarks were treated with a special brutality because of who their father was. One was put in solitary confinement and given no food.
With the end almost in sight and the war nearly won, no one could have blamed Abraham Clark for acceding to the British request when they offered him his sons’ lives if he would recant and come out for the king and parliament. The utter despair in this man’s heart, the anguish in his very soul, must reach out to each one of us down through 200 years with his answer: “No!”
The freedoms enjoyed in America today are the result of immense sacrifices made by countless individuals throughout America’s brief history. Millions endured hardship, imprisonment, and even death, all in pursuit of a nation where freedom and justice prevail. Their legacy is a reminder that the rights we cherish were hard-won and must be continually protected. I often wonder, if in Abigail Madison’s words, today’s Americans truly understand, let alone appreciate her thoughts, “Posterity who are to reap the blessings, will scarcely be able to conceive of the hardships and sufferings of their ancestors.”
“But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom,
Can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.” – John Adams
