May 26, 2015
The Green Mountain Boys:
Yesterday was Memorial Day. We were busy the whole day. We filled helium balloons with the captions mormon.org on them; we got candy and Joseph Smith Birthplace Pass Along Cards ready for the Tunbridge, VT, parade. We also went into South Royalton for Roger to march in their parade from the High School to the Green, where he was to give the keynote address. There is a lot of patriotism here, but I notice that no one but me (in the crowd) sang the National Anthem. SAD. I don't think they had ever known the words.
Last Wednesday we went to Fort Ticonderoga just over the New York border (still in our mission). Roger wanted to prepare himself for the speech he would give on Memorial Day. It was very interesting.
I am adding some pictures from our visit so you all can get an idea of what we experienced.
War in those days took on a very different look from today's wars.
I am also adding a copy of Roger's speech; it is worth reading.
A New Birth of Freedom
On this Memorial Day I would like to salute the men and women of Vermont. As I look at the stones you have erected on this square to honor your dead, I am reminded of the stones Joshua had his troops carry up from the bottom of the Jordan River to remind the Israelites who they were. Joshua wanted a memorial that his people could always come to so they would always remember their forefathers and the warriors who had perished in the wilderness.
There are so many beautiful cemeteries throughout Vermont. And it is good to be here to day to honor our dead, and especially our dead warriors. The seed bed of our national heritage has long had strong roots right here in Vermont. The Green Mountains were the first lands brought into the Union after the original Thirteen Colonies. But behind the battlements of Bunker Hill, on the boats crossing the Delaware, and in the crude green-wood cabins of Valley Forge were Green Mountain Boys. These first patriots sacrificed comfort and convenience before spilling their precious blood. They counted it a service to their posterity to stay and suffer. No one liked it; no one wanted to do it! But they, nevertheless, stayed and gave their all.
The Green Mountain Boys were first organized about 1770. The English rulers, mostly housed in New York, came up to Vermont and began confiscating the farm lands of the native Vermonters. Ethan Allen was still relatively a young man. But he hated being abused by government authorities. At first he merely organized the local farmers and sent the New York King's Men running.
However, after the war with England started, the Green Mountain Boys became an invaluable tool in the belt of General Washington. General Benedict Arnold was sent by Washington to capture Fort Ticonderoga. Arnold requested a meeting with Ethan Alan.
He explained the effort Washington wanted. Ethan Allen quickly agreed to bring his Boys into the fight. Arnold only had a small group of soldiers, so it was up to the Green Mountain Boys to do the heavy lifting. They arrived at Fort Ticonderoga on 10 May 1775. In front of the Fort, Ethan Allen
stepped out boldly and announced to the British soldiers that the Americans were going to take the Fort that day.
He then attacked and his Boys were right behind him. The British soon surrendered. This battle was key to the final winning of the Revolutionary War. Many speculate that if Ethan Allen's Boys had not taken this Fort we might not have won the war. The Green Mountain Boys went on to assist in many other battles, such as the Battle of Bennington.
In all, the Vermont men achieved a valuable reputation. It was almost like Sam Houston's cry "Remember the Alamo." When anyone wanted a flourish of fighting men the cry went forth: "Where are the Green Mountain Boys?"
My own people came after Ethan Allen by about thirty years. They were being chased by mobs in the pre-battles before the Civil War. It was a case where hellish fiends were robbing my people of their property and killing them. My forefathers called on the Spirit of the Green Mountain Boys to come to their defense.
To this Spirit my great general said, "Let every man's brow be as the face of a lion; let his breast be as unshaken as the mighty oak, and his knee confirmed as the sapling of the forest; and by the voice of the thunderings of heaven upon Mount Sinai....let (the Green Mountain Boys) plead the justice of our cause." I think it was only this spirit that saved my forbears. So I thank Vermont.
Today we desperately need the Spirit of our Ethan Allen Boys. There are legions in our world which would enslave us. They would like nothing better than to see our youth serve their wicked goals.
Among these legions are small tyrants who sneak into small corners with bombs and brittle glass. They hide behind the skirts of women and the innocence of children. They will not fight in the open, but hide behind the cover of crowds and darkness.
There are also great, secretive tyrants. Some of these have sneaked into legislative and judicial bodies. They purchase votes by promises of state money. But their only real intent is to rob the people, replacing their freedoms with chains.
These tyrants, great and small, need to be defeated, stopped, thrust from among us.
The patriots we honor here to day gave their lives that such tyrants should not reign. They left a legacy of freedom for us to follow and pass on.
They gave their lives that we could live free.
I remember when I was ordered to Vietnam. I thought that war was a mess. I even thought I was a conscientious objector. But I remember a night in a bunker. I was waiting for the enemy to come. The question was "Would I shoot?" Literally my life in Vietnam passed before my eyes. I remember the youngsters gathering before our garbage dump. Every time we'd push our cans off the trucks little black suited boys would climb over our fence and gather up every bit of steak bones; every scrap of potato went into their little cans to take home.
In their eyes I saw a longing for freedom from fear. They wanted to be able to feed their families, to be able to read a book in the afternoon sun with out having some Viet Cong sympathizer rip it out of their hand because it had a new idea in it. We had a Vietnamese orderly named Sherry and another named Charlie Brown. I found a microscope for Sherry and we allowed Charlie Brown to actually treat patients. Sherry became so good that she could diagnose pathogens.
When we left Vietnam these skills evaporated because the Viet Cong sent them both to retraining camps or death, I never knew which.
But here I was, wondering if it was worth shooting to defend these people. I looked around, and beside me were 1,000 American boys who didn't want to be there, but they were willing to defend Sherry and Charlie Brown. To defend their rights to live free.
These were the Green Mountain Boys all over again. I remember saying to myself: "Do I love these Vietnamese people enough to shoot?" The answer was YES! I wanted the feeling of being an instrument for good in that world. I wanted other to be free.
So today I salute the spirit of the Green Mountain Boys. I salute you for being the granite that this spirit rests upon. May God ever allow us to live free.
