Compass Points - Challenges Ahead
Yet, the future is bright
June 30, 2024
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Sunday is a day of contemplation.
Tomorrow begins the month of July and with it the start of 4th of July week. As we commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, it is worth taking stock of where we were back then and where we are today. The challenges were extreme in 1776. One year before, Patrick Henry stood up at St John's church in Richmond, Virginia and addressed the legislature. Patrick Henry warned that even though "we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm" the storm was still coming.
One month later, shots were exchanged at Lexington and Concord. Just a few weeks after that in June 1775, the fight for independence was nearly lost before it began at the Battle of Bunker Hill. One year later with the signing of the Declaration of Independence, there were tremendous doubts the American colonies had any chance to defeat the greatest military power on earth. But with hope and with faith, the colonies continued to fight.
Today, the Nation and the Marine Corps are faced once again with extreme challenges. Enemies loom in the darkness as the road forward turns narrow and murky. What is to be done in desperate times? Our revolutionary ancestors tell us to keep moving forward. Keep one candle burning. Keep fighting the good fight.
That is what Marines have done down through the decades. Attack the challenges. Keep moving forward. Keep the fight alive. No matter the strength of the storm, there is a brighter future ahead -- if we just keep fighting.
Compass Points salutes all Marines and friends of the Corps, from before the signing of the Declaration until today, who have kept the fight alive and purchased a brighter future with their toil, tears, and blood.
In honor of 4th of July week, Compass Points has received two 4th of July related verses.
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Our Founders & Neil Armstrong
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Our founders, made their leap, in their own time,
Just like Armstrong, they leaped for mankind.
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Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Jay,
Franklin, Madison, and Samuel Chase.
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These early founders and so many more,
They risked all they had, to open a door.
These men were not perfect. They were not saints.
But the plan they began, became 50 states.
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Hancock, Pat Henry, and Anthony Wayne,
George Mason, Revere, and Thomas Paine.
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It makes little sense, to destroy and erase,
Our founders, whose lives touched the whole human race.
The U.S. founding was a start, not an end,
And we who come next, must improve it again.
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Adams, Ross, Randolph, and Nathaniel Greene,
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and George Read.
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Who would condemn Armstrong's steps on the moon?
'Cause he just started, the good we will do?
It's silly to chastise the very first steps.
Neil got us started. We do what's next.
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Nathan Hale, Floyd, Hall, Smith, Witherspoon.
John Paul Jones, Morgan, and Jacob Broom.
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Our founders, made their leap, in their own time,
Just like Armstrong, they leaped for mankind.
All the good they started, it's not finished yet.
So let's praise the ones, who took the first steps.
-- (C) 2024 JDK
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At the Intersection of
the Declaration of Independence
& the Gettysburg Address
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Among the words that most revere,
The U.S. holds a few words dear,
Our Declaration said it first,
Then Gettysburg recalled the verse.
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In our first Declaration,
We cut the cord.
With that first Declaration,
We went to war.
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We hold these truths to be self-evident.
Life, Liberty, and pursuit of Happiness.
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At Gettysburg,
Consecration.
At Gettysburg,
New dedication.
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Our fathers brought forth a new nation,
Of the people, by the people, for the people.
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No matter the fight,
No matter the date,
Both documents
Use the very same phrase.
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All men are created equal.
All men are created equal.
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When in the course of human events,
We affirm with eternal intent,
No matter the battle or battles to come,
The battle goes on 'till freedom is won.
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Freedom to try and freedom to grow.
Freedom to dream and make the dream so.
Created equal, sisters and brothers.
Created equal, one life and another.
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Among the words that most revere
The U.S. holds a few words dear
Our Declaration said it first
Then Gettysburg recalled the verse.
-- (C) 2024 JDK
First Steps followed by new steps every day since the war against tyranny began in Our Homeland……Revolutionary War 1775 to 1784. Articles of Confederation until Constitution w Bill of Rights 1791. Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death
Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775.
No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.
Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful”cont ….
"Among the words that most revere
The U.S. holds a few words dear
Our Declaration said it first
Then Gettysburg recalled the verse."
: thanks for the inspiration JDK, and SemperFi.