* Copied (from: DBRIDGE) by Roger Nelson using timEd/386 1.10.y2k+.   
      
   Hello All!   
      
   This is for USA residents and our men and women serving across the world.   
      
      
   Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration   
   of Independence?   
      
   Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before   
   they died.   
      
   Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in   
   the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.   
      
   Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary   
   War.   
      
   They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred   
   honor.   
      
   What kind of men were they?   
      
   Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers   
   and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the   
   Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death   
   if they were captured.   
      
   Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept   
   from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his   
   debts, and died in rags.   
      
   Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his   
   family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family   
   was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his   
   reward.   
      
   Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton,   
   Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.   
      
   At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General   
   Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly   
   urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and   
   Nelson died bankrupt.   
      
   Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his   
   wife, and she died within a few months.   
      
   John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13   
   children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to   
   waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to   
   find his wife dead and his children vanished.   
      
   So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently   
   thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.   
      
   Remember: freedom is never free!   
      
   It's time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of   
   July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games. [and fireworks]   
      
      
   Regards,   
      
   Roger    
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LA - (1:3828/7)