The U.S. Army has been rolling along for two and a half centuries as of today, the greatest army in the world, with a storied history of heroes and victories.
On June 14, 1775, more than a year before the United States officially declared independence, the Continental Congress passed a historic resolution. The Revolutionaries were beginning to understand that they were fighting for a new nation, and that they could not rely simply on random groups of militia to take on the most powerful army in the world (Britain’s).
The resolution ordered: “That six companies of expert riflemen [sic], be immediately raised in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland, and two in Virginia; … [and] that each company, as soon as completed, shall march and join the army near Boston, to be there employed as light infantry, under the command of the chief Officer in that army.” George Washington would accept that indispensable position as commander-in-chief.
Significantly, exactly two years after the Army was born, on June 14, 1777, the Congress officially adopted the Stars and Stripes as our national flag. The shot heard around the world had launched a world-changing revolution, and the echoes resound even today.
George Washington led an Army that included such outstanding Patriots as Alexander Hamilton, Nathan Hale, John Fitzgerald, James Armistead Lafayette, James Monroe, Nathanael Greene and Christopher Greene, John Laurens, Henry Knox, and John Callendar.
Related: Memorial Day Hero: Col. Christopher Greene, Patriot and Valorous Commander
And in subsequent years, the U.S. Army lived up to the greatness of its nascent years. U.S. Grant, Daniel Boone, William T. Sherman, Philip Sheridan, Winfield Scott, Abraham Lincoln (yes, really), Alvin York, Ronald Reagan, George Patton, Douglas MacArthur, Daniel James Jr., Bennie G. Adkins, Anthony C. McAuliffe, John Pershing, and Theodore Roosevelt Jr.
are just a few of the American heroes who served in the Army or Army reserves throughout our history.
Gen. Patton gave a famous speech to the Third Army during World War II in which he recalled a soldier who had particularly impressed him as exemplifying the best Army spirit:
Each man must not think only of himself, but also of his buddy fighting beside him. One of the bravest men I ever saw was a fellow on top of a telegraph pole in the midst of a furious fight in Tunisia. I stopped and asked him what the hell he was doing up there in a time like that. He answered, ‘Fixing the wire, Sir.’ I asked, ‘Isn’t that a little unhealthy right about now?’ He answered, ‘Yes Sir, but the wire has to be fixed.’ I asked, ‘Don’t those planes strafing the road bother you?’ And he answered, ‘No, Sir, but you sure as hell do!’ Now there was a real man. A real soldier. There was a man who devoted all he had to his duty, no matter how seemingly insignificant his duty might appear at the time, no matter how great the odds.
That is the proud spirit of courage, resourcefulness, and patriotism that was seen at Trenton and Saigon, in Yorktown and the Chosin Reservoir, at Gettysburg and Normandy, in Cuba and Mexico, at Vicksburg and Rome, in Afghanistan and Fort McHenry. There have been wars when American leadership was corrupt or incompetent, but never could the courage of the American soldier be doubted. The Army was always our staunch defender against tyranny and for freedom.
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There are many thousands of stories of Army bravery (please share those from your family and friends in the comments), and not all are known to the public. I had two ancestors who died in the Civil War fighting for the Union, my great-grandfathers served in the era of the World Wars, and my grandfather and his brothers served in WWII. Now my brother is in the Army too. Generation after generation, Americans have heard the call and donned the uniform to take up arms for liberty.
Be sure to thank active duty military and veterans today, attend an event celebrating the anniversary if you can, and watch a movie or read about the many, many outstanding soldiers throughout our history who formed the U.S. Army’s exceptional legacy. As Patton said, “the highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is that of bearing arms for one’s country.”
