i know many people on this forum {best forum on the web} arent from America.at the same time some of us are and Busse kin knives are made here as well which is all neither here nor there.so whether your from the states or not i'd like to share this with you because its very interesting all the same,with some incredible stories regardless where your from.i stumbled upon it recently and found the history aspect of it fascinating all the way to the end.

THE SPIRIT OF APRIL 19,1775

"Each April 19, do you honor the farmers who stood in defiance at Lexington and Concord and then beat the hell out of the British Regulars all the way back to Boston?One of the best ways to honor their memory,while preserving your heritage and passing it down to your kids and grand kids,is to take your family to one of the annual special April 19 Appleseed rifle shoots being held across the country on Saturday and Sunday,April 18-19.Lets look at some of the heroes of April 19,1775.

ISAAC DAVIS

Perhaps you know the name Isaac Davis,the militia captain and gunsmith who fell in the first volley at Concord Bridge,leaving behind a wife and four ill children.Davis was convinced that he would die if it came to a fight because a few days before the battle,a large owl,a symbol of death,had flown into his home and perched on his favorite gun.And yet,as his wife recalled, "the alarm was given early in the morning,and my husband lost no time in making ready to go to Concord with his company.My husband said but little that morning.He seemed serious and thoughtful,but never seemed to hesitate.He only said 'take good care of the children,' and was out of sight."Those where his last words to his wife.However,despite his premonition of death,when Davis was asked if he was afraid to march down into Concord to defend the town,he replied "No,I am not and I havnt a man that is!"

A DANGEROUS OLD MAN

When 80-year old farmer Samuel Whittemore,a veteran of the French and Indian War,saw the approaching British Regulars,he left his plow and,to the astonishment of his family,strapped on his prized dueling pistols and a captured French sword,grabbed his musket,and stepped out to make war one last time.
Whittemore ambushed the column at close range,firing first with his musket,and then drawing his dueling pistols.He fired a total of five shots,killing three regulars and wounding another before being overrun.He then drew his sword and counterattacked.He was shot in the face at close range,bayoneted thirteen times and left for dead.When his grieving family came to collect the body,they where amazed to find him still alive and attempting to reload his musket for a parting shot at the now distant column.
Whittemore said he fought because he wanted his children to live without being subject to a distant king.Some have questioned his tactics,but never his resolve.Despite his grievous wounds,he survived and lived another 18 years,dying of natural causes at the age of 98.
At Bunker Hill,another "dangerous old man" was overheard saying a prayer before the Regulars made their first charge.Was the old man asking God to keep him safe in the coming battle?No.He was down on his knees thanking God for preserving him long enough so that he could fight that day.That is the spirit of a free man who understands the big picture-that what counts most is whether we leave our children free.

DO WE STILL HAVE IT IN US?

Some say we modern Americans have lost our hardness,our fire,and are not the men our forefathers were.They say we are no longer willing to pay the price of freedom and will go out with a whimper rather than a bang in the face of tyranny.Such critics are making the same mistake our enemies have made throughout our history-confusing the American love of peace,prosperity and our respect for the rule of law,with weakness.
Parliament and the British Officer Corps made that same mistake back in 1775,convinced that the colonists were "cowardly and would never fight the Crown."Major General Alured Clarke famously declared,"that with a thousand British grenadiers he would undertake to go from one end of America to the other and geld all the males,partly by force and partly with a little coaxing"
General Hugh Percy shared that opinion-until he experienced the wrath of the Americans swarming around him during the retreat from Lexington.Afterward,he wrote to General Harvey in England:
"...during the whole affair the Rebels attacked us in a very scattered,irregular manner,but with perseverance and resolution.nor did they ever dare to form into any regular body.Indeed,they knew to well what was proper,to do so.
"Whoever looks upon them as an irregular mob,will find himself much mistaken,They have men amongst them who know very well what they are about,having been employed as Rangers against the Indians and Canadians and this country being much covered with wood,and hills,is very advantageous for their method of fighting...."
Likewise,the Imperial Japanese Army and the Nazis thought the 1940s generation of Americans was soft and weak,only to find themselves very much mistaken.Simply because we love life and the blessings of prosperity does not mean we will not fight-and fight hard.

YES,WE CAN!

Some think we no longer have it in us because we have put up with so much that the Founding Generation would not have tolerated.But remember,for two full decades before Lexington and Concord,the colonists tried to peaceably reconcile their disagreement with Parliament-protesting,petitioning and filing court cases.As our Declaration says,"mankind are more disposed to suffer,while evils are sufferable,than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."
The Founding Generation exhausted all peaceful means of redress-they tried to work within the system,But "when a long train of abuses and usurpations,pursuing invariably the same Object envinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism,it is their right,it is their duty,to throw off such Government."And that is precisely what they did when Parliament attempted to disarm them.
Today,we too are striving to preserve our rights by peaceful means,working within the system,despite a "long train of abuses."But that should not be mistaken for weakness or a lack of resolve.Just as the Founding Generation contained combat veterans who had learned much in the way of irregular warfare from their Indian foes,we too have among us tens of thousands of combat vets who have learned similar lessons and "who know very well what they are about."Though many are aging,they are still assuredly dangerous old men who should not be taken lightly.