There was a day
when General Sam Houston
"ordered" that the Alamo Mission be set to the torch. Yet the
remnant of the “First Company of Texas Volunteers” under an azure blue flag emblazoned with the words “God and Liberty” would not
"STAND DOWN." In the days that followed 26-year-old Lt. Col. William
Barret Travis with a nondescript contingency of 20 Army Regulars, cast his lot
with those preferring to "die in these ditches than give up to the
enemy."
On February 24, 1836, William Barret Travis Lt. Col. Comdt. of the Alamo mission pleads:
"I am besieged, by
a thousand.... The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the
garrison are to be put to the sword.... I have answered the demand with a
cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never
surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of
patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to our
aid.... If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as
possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor &
that of his country − Victory or Death."
P.S. The Lord is on our side....
On March 3, 1836 in his final
communiqué, Travis writes "... if my countrymen do not rally to my relief, I am
determined to perish in the defense of this place, and my bones shall reproach
my country for her neglect.... All the citizens of this place that have not
joined us are with the enemy fighting against us. Let the government declare
them public enemies...."
On
September 11, 2012 retired U.S. Navy SEAL Senior Chief Petty Officer Tyrone Woods like Lt. Col Travis in the name of
Liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, came to
the aid of his compatriots in the Benghazi mission.
He would not "STAND DOWN." When his countrymen would not
rally to his relief, he perished, his bones reproaching his country for her
neglect.
The words and the acts
of the righteous have a legacy:
At dawn on the first of
March, responding to Travis' plea, Lt.
George C. Kimble with his "Immortal 32" fought
their way into the beleaguered mission, never to leave. Unbeknown to the
besieged defenders, that night in Washington-on-the-Brazos, delegates were
frantically preparing the final draft of The Texas Declaration of Independence.
The following day declared, "Here a Nation was born." Four days later at dawn,
the Alamo's defenders ratified it with their blood.
Within four fortnights,
the Texan militia came to the aid of their "fallen" brethren charging
Santa Anna's far superior forces, to the rallying cry "Remember the
Alamo!" The slaughter that hardly lasted twenty minutes was
"frightful to behold", an overwhelming defeat for the merciless Santa
Anna who was later found cowering among the multitude of prisoners. That
evening peace had come to the commonwealth of Texas.
What is
the legacy of Benghazi? As
coming days threaten the "Death"
of America, will we "STAND DOWN" or shout the rallying cry "Remember Benghazi"? Taking no prisoners of those who make "lies"
their refuge, and by their "silence" make a prisoner of Truth? There is but one choice that honor demands, Truth!
"Victory or Death."
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