What Independence Day Really Means

232 years ago, brave men made a decision to lay their lives on the line for a common cause, a cause so great they risked everything.

Men like John Hancock who was a well-off business owner. He was so despised by the British that a proclamation offering amnesty to those who pledged allegiance to the crowd specifically excluded him and another great patriot Samuel Adams.

Men like Benjamin Franklin who by 1776 was an internationally known celebrity. He signed on to what proved to be his greatest experiment.

Men like a Virginia gentleman named George Washington who left his wife and farm to lead a rag-tag band of volunteers against the greatest army the world had yet seen.

Men like Nathanael Greene who battled British general Cornwallis throughout the South trading temporary losses for ultimate victory.

Men like Henry Knox who was an integral part of Washington's crossing of the Delaware and defeat of the Hessian's at Trenton.

Men like John Glover who led what was to become my beloved US Navy. He gave a schooner to the cause that was used to raid British shipping. Glover saved the war cause on several occasions.

I ask, do we have men like this today? Would Barack Obama sign his name to a document that would effectively put a price on his head and lead to his hanging? Would Lindsey Graham give up a life of luxury and fight for the ideal of freedom? Would Bill Gates defend the nation that has made him one of the wealthiest men in the world? Would Bill Clinton risk his life by supporting a cause greater than anyone?

There are but a few who would sacrifice everything and you can tell who they are because they have already done so. Men and woman who've opted for the meager pay and danger of serving in our military. Men like John McCain who was sentenced to five years of hell in a rancid prison. Men like former Senator Robert Dole and JFK. Men who risked their lives so that we could remain free.

A Brit--Sir Winston Churchill--who had the spirit of America in him said: "We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."

Those men who gave up everything so that we may celebrate nearly two and a half centuries later deserve to be remembered so hoist a cold one to these great men and women who gave us the ultimate gift...America.