News for the Ninth
Submitted - July 2, 2010U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, District 9
As we prepare to spend time with family and friends in celebration of the Fourth of July, it is appropriate to reflect on the words of Thomas Paine who wrote: “Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”
Thomas Paine understood the sacrifices that would have to be made by each generation to ensure that our nation remained strong. As we look back on our country’s history and consider the struggles our people had to overcome, it appears his words were prophetic.
Perhaps one of the greatest struggles our nation ever faced was when brother faced brother on the bloody battlefields of the Civil War. One only has to look at the face of President Lincoln after the carnage had ended to understand the true toll of war on a President who treasured the blessings of freedom. So we must also consider the toll on a weary nation that survived the threat to end the great American experiment won less than 100 years before.
Our nation grew and prospered in the decades ahead as freedom became a reality for so many who had been enslaved. Americans entered the 20th Century as an emerging economic colossus. When we were next challenged, our brave doughboys went on to serve and sacrifice in the Great War. Many of those who returned soon endured another kind of hardship, the Great Depression, which swept across the nation like the dust storms of the times.
Soon, those who had survived these desperate times found themselves on the fields of Europe and on the islands of the Pacific fighting to defend and preserve freedom, and after more sacrifice a weary nation grew even stronger. In the decades ahead, from Korea to Vietnam, our nation fought the evils of communism and by the beginning of the 1990s, we watched as liberty spread across the former Soviet states. Yet, in the years ahead we would face still another new threat — the deadly battle against international terrorism and a growing economic storm that still has not passed.
The notion that freedom is not free is exactly what Thomas Paine was talking about more than 200 years ago. Paine understood that the young nation would face many struggles but also made it clear that freedom was worth fighting for. So as you celebrate the Fourth of July, please take
a moment to remember that no matter how tough times may get and how weary our nation may become, Americans throughout our history have understood that there is nothing more important than our freedom.
Have a safe and happy Fourth of July.
CONTACT US: As always, for those of you with Internet access, I encourage you to visit my website http://luetkemeyer.house.gov/ . For those without access to the Internet, I encourage you to call my offices in Columbia (573-886-8929), Washington, Mo. (636-239-2276), or Hannibal (573-231-1012) with your questions and concerns. If you want even greater access to what I am working on, please visit my YouTube site http://www.youtube.com/user/BLuetkemeyer and my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/people/Blaine-Luetkemeyer/1358702716.