Grandpa Bohrer

July 4, 2019

Almost anyone with even a modicum of patriotism can do a better job than I writing about this day. I am not a veteran, but I am the son and brother of veterans, and am indebted to them and countless others for the freedom I enjoy. Today I varnished the bannister, had lunch and went shopping with my wife, came home to write and watch a little television, courtesy of those who served, fought, and died for this freedom.

The fourth day of July became a special day in the midst of great conflict, of oppression met by violent resistance. The freedoms we enjoy and others envy came at great cost. The signers of the Declaration of Independence pledged their honor, their fortunes, and their lives for the cause of which we are the beneficiaries. Their honor they maintained; many lost their fortunes, and some their lives for this great experiment in self-government. 

One hundred forty-six years ago, this nation was in the middle of a great conflict testing “whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long survive.” On this very day in 1863, Ulysses Grant gave president Lincoln the 4th of July gift he had so earnestly desired. Vicksburg, the backbone of the Mississippi, surrendered. On this same day on the eastern front, George Meade handed Robert E. Lee his first major defeat of the war. The Rebellion was effectively over, though it took another two years to end hostilities.

My great-great-grandfather served in the New York militia in that conflict. An immigrant from Bavaria, he enlisted to preserve his adopted home and country. Every so often we hear of some politician introducing a bill to force white people to pay reparations for slavery, as if that will somehow magically improve our race relations. I am puzzled as to why the descendent of someone who fought for freedom should have to pay anything to the descendent of a slave his ancestor helped set free. I am proud of my grandfather Bohrer; his musket hangs over our fireplace, his discharge papers I keep in a file. They are visible reminders of the self-sacrifice that made this country great, and a reminder to me to not shrink from standing for freedom and truth, no matter what the cost.