The 19th Day of April, 1775

Our esteemed nephew, Brent, was born 21 years ago today - on April 19, Patriots Day in Massachusetts, the anniversary of Paul Revere's ride and and the Battles of Lexington and Concord that began the American Revolution. "Embattled farmers," our determined ancestors among them, picked off nearly every British officer and sent 800 of King George's professional troops fleeing back to Boston in mounting panic. Only the timely arrival of reinforcements saved their precipitous retreat from becoming a wholesale rout.

A couple of months later the British army sallied forth again, this time to attack Rebel fortifications overlooking Boston from the high ground known as Breed's, now Bunker, Hill. Up marched the disciplined, red coated lines, wave on wave, drums rat-tatting and bag pipes scirling. Sun glistened on thousands of leveled musket barrels with terrible splendor.

"Steady, men!" called Brent's cousin, Capt. William Prescott. "Don't fire till you see the whites of their eyes!"

Volleys roared from behind wicker breastworks packed with earth. Gaps appeared in the British line, but the ranks closed and pressed on up the hill. Three times the British fell back and three times they rallied and surged forward. The Patriots were running out of ammunition. Peter Hayward, a giant blacksmith "with arms like oak trees," called his black, Indian-fighting dog, leaped the parapet, and charged into the enemy line, "raging like a demon (and) cracking British skulls like egg shells" with the butt of his musket as his ferocious hound sprang for their throats.

George Washington sounded the retreat, leaving England in possession of the field. But when the attackers mustered their force they found that, again, nearly every officer was dead and that casualties were nearly 50%. The Revolution lasted another eight years, but the British army never set foot out of Boston again.

Bunker Hill is a proud part of America's heritage - the "Glorious Cause" of freedom and democracy. Brent, an Eagle Scout and ROTC cadet at Purdue University, is only the latest on the eternal roll of honor. We hoist a glass in his honor on this special day!