Today is an important anniversary in the history of this nation.

On April 19, 1775, British General Thomas Gage dispatched 700 British troops commanded by Lt. Col. Francis Smith to Concord, Massachusetts to seize munitions that the Patriots had been stockpiling. Word of the British departure from Boston was quickly spread by Paul Revere, and by the time the British reached the village green at Lexington they found 70 Minutemen waiting for them under the command of Capt. John Parker. When ordered by the British to lay down their arms and disperse, The Shot Heard Round the World was fired and the American Revolution was begun. Nobody knows for sure who fired that shot. The British then fired upon the Minutemen, killing 8 and wounding 10. The British suffered 1 wounded.

The British continued on to Concord and the Americans retreated to the North Bridge just outside the town. While the main body of soldiers accomplished their mission of seizing the gunpowder, a small contingent of British troops skirmished again with the colonists, now numbering several hundred. 3 British soldiers and 2 Americans were killed. As they returned to Boston, the British were under constant assault from Massachusetts militiamen, who inflicted 273 more casualties.

So today I am going to drink a toast to those fine Americans who stood up and gave their lives for this nation on that fateful day.