PATRIOT'S DAY
I started this webpage when promoting my latest book on the story behind the myth of James "Whitey" Bulger, The Truth Be Damned.
My experience as a juror in his trial forced me to view the depth of corruption within our federal legal/judicial system--further study, and personal experience, exposed the corruption within State legal systems and courts across America.
Our Founding Fathers/Mothers were willing to risk all they had and were to set this nation upon a solid foundation. A main pillar in this foundation was a fair and just legal system. Over the course of decades that pillar has been chipped away. It is crumbling. When it falls, the nation falls too. Is it too late to repair the damage?
Since the close of the Bulger trial in 2013, I have been in an ideological depression. Patriotic holidays lost their meaning. My sorrow for the forgotten heroism of so many that stood (and often fell) to birth and sustain this nation was, at times, overwhelming.
I live in Massachusetts. Here, we set aside April 19th as a holiday. It's referred to as Patriot's Day. Most living in Massachusetts don't know why. They've come to think it's because the Boston Marathon is usually held on that day. Some even believe it's in honor of the local football team... It's not.
It's a day set aside for heroes. Men, and the women and children who supported them, tried for more than 10 long years to reason with the power of Great Britain. Over the tax on tea? No! Although that, sadly, is what most Americans believe. It was over the corruption of power, and what power drives the powerful to do to those less powerful. It was over the fact that the Creator granted to mankind -- all mankind -- the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
When it was obvious that Great Britain was not listening (sending 4.000 soldiers to police the streets of Boston kind of gave it away!) the Massachusetts's colonists continued to watch, hope, wait, and prepare as best they could. What finally pushed them to the precipice of war? The fact that the King was sending 1,000 more troops. A standing army in a time of peace. The time had come. It was not an elated decision, but one of grief and deep concern.
These men, and their families with them, were about to take up arms against the mightiest army and navy on Earth at the time. Only some of the colonists had military training. Weapons and equipment to support a standing army simply didn't exist. What of the food, clothing, shelter and medical supplies needed?
They were certain to die quickly in their attempt. to stand against the might of Britain. Yet, even so, they answered the call to turn out. They brought what little gear they had. They were ready to fight side by side; young and old; rich and poor.
The Minute Men were ready to die -- and their families ready to face whatever the future brought.
The mission of Billy Dawes, Paul Revere, and Samuel Prescott, Israel Bissel, and Sybil Ludington to warn of the British march from Boston to Concord came on April 18, 1775.
The Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. Patriot's Day