Monday's Internet Edition, October 06, 2008.
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| ED RHODE rings the bell during a Let Freedom Ring ceremony July 4 at the VFW Post 8577 – Photo by KRISTAN HALL |
News editor - A Let Freedom Ring ceremoney was held on July 4 in celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
An act of Congress in 1963 officially authorized the Let Freedom Ring National Bell Ringing Ceremony. The act says it is fitting and appropriate to ring bells in honor of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. To participate, institutions across the country rung the bell 13 times at 1 p.m. Central Time.
The ceremony, held at the All-American VFW Post 8577, began with a welcome by VFW Commander Hubert Brast, master of ceremonies. Pastor Bernie Schey of Trinity Lutheran gave the opening invocation.
Copperas Cove City Council Member Annabelle Smith gave a synopsis of the “Birth of our Nation,” the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which occurred on July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia, Pa.
Smith said the declaration was a severing of ties with Britain. “It [the signing of the declaration] was a rebellious act,” she said.
The document starts with the words “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for people to dissolve the political bands which have connected it with another,” she said.
Smith said the declaration charts the course and destiny of the nation as a republic in its first paragraph. Smith also said a total of 55 representatives from all 13 colonies signed the declaration. However, Rhode Island had no representative to sign the document, she said.
Smith said the Declaration of Independence is the one founding document to state a belief in God. She also said that, of the 55 signers of the declaration, only George Read of Delaware, Ben Franklin and Robert Morris of Pennsylvania and Roger Sherman of Connecticut signed both the declaration and the U.S. Constitution.
The councilwoman said loyalists treated most of the document’s signers as disgraced members of the community. She said they either lost their lives, their fortunes, or they and their families were forced to flee their homes and, in some cases, the country.
“Some were shot in front of their families,” said Smith. “The signers were fearless, bold and dedicated men.”
Roger “Odie” O’Dwyer read a resolution, followed by the Bell Tolling. Ed Rhode, World War II veteran and former Cove mayor, struck a bell, which was painted red and blue, 13 times with a hammer. Those present then sang the National Anthem.
The ceremony closed with a prayer of remembrance, said by Schey, for those who made the ultimate sacrifice. A complimentary hotdog and hamburger was served afterwards.