This column resonates now more than ever. I have never been so frightened for our country as I am now.
What gets me is the irony, that those who claim to love our country hate the very things that make it great: equality, opportunity, and the freedom to live authentically.
I wonder what the Founding Fathers would think about the predicament we’re in.
Thank you for reposting this, Lucian. I wasn’t one of your readers when you posted it originally. Those of us who are reading it for the first time are so fortunate to have this opportunity. Your family history - ALL of Jefferson’s descendants - IS the history of the United States, and those who try to deny and / or rewrite our history are showing their insecurity, their fear, their inadequacies, whether they know those or not. This is a beautiful, sensitive, and oh so important piece of writing. Thank you!
Great column. If we keep erasing our history, American students will be like those we met in Romania who told us that Jews used to live in Romania but they "decided to leave" when in fact they were killed.
Rereading this today is the most uplifting piece I have read all week. It’s the beautiful repair that comes from embracing history - the good and the bad - without fear. The brotherhood is truly beautiful. I believe Mr Jefferson would be both humbled and relieved by what you have achieved, and immensely proud of you both.
Now, let’s work to keep all that we have gained “towards a more perfect union.” It’s scary times. Education is key. So is truth.
I was connected to a fourth cousin with 88% African ancestry, while mine is 0% African. He wanted to know how we were cousins. From census records I learned that a seventh-great-grandfather had two slaves in his household. Could it be that his 1000 acre plantation was worked by volunteers? This is the slave-holding ancestor that I do know about. My point is that likely most white people with roots in the South going way back have one or more enslaving ancestors. There are few African-American people today without some European ancestry.
The fastest-growing racial category on the last census is “more than one race.” Eventually people will fall in love with their adorable grandchildren, regardless of their mixture of ethnicities.
Frozen is definiely the right word. How many wonderful connections and relationships are we missing out on because of that fear? How long will it take us to finally see our common humanity? I would like to think it could happen in my lifetime, but at the present time I'm not holding my breath. But I'm always hopeful.
What a beautiful and revealing piece! Thanks for sharing it.
I love this country, too. I appreciate the freedom America has given me to thrive.
I won't give it up, ever, and I will stand with you, Shannon, and every other person who loves this country to preserve and protect it. Even if it costs me my life.
There’s a strain of national narcissism that struggles to be proud of how far we’ve come, and how possible it is to be even BETTER than today … and those who suffer it just cannot admit to a seriously flawed past. They truly believe knowing where we’ve come from is a stain on all of us today, rather than an object lesson to always strive to be better.
SOME are just afraid that people will exploit our racist past somehow. That’s not the point of understanding it, though … The point of understanding is to be a better people…
Thanks, Lucian Truscott, IV, for always striving to be a better person.
"[A] stain on all of us today," well if transhistorical collective guilt was legit we'd have to take that stain, that fear seriously, also start rewriting a huge amount of international law!
It's likely more the sheer political power they are losing that motivates the willful ignorance.
Lucian: I want to share with you a letter I published in our local paper, the ADDISON COUNTY INDEPENDENT, on July 4, 2020. My feelings about our flag and the ideals it represents have only intensified since that time.
We flew the American flag in front of our house for years. But, as America became increasingly partisan, we stopped flying it. We devoutly believe in the ideals represented by the flag, but have no truck with the “America, love it or leave it” attitude of many Americans.
But I never felt right about this. What gave these people exclusive rights to our national banner? Didn’t I have an obligation to defend the very idea of America, as defined by Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt? And there was a bit of family history that inspired me to restore the Stars and Stripes to its rightful place on our porch.
My father, Paul Gill Sr., was the 22-year-old Third Mate on the Liberty Ship SS NATHANAEL GREENE when, on Sept. 2, 1942, it weighed anchor in Loch Ewe, Scotland, and headed out to sea. The GREENE was part of convoy PQ-18, a massive armada of merchant ships and naval escorts en route to Archangel, Russia, with war matériel destined for the Red Army at Stalingrad. Over the next 19 days, the convoy took part in the biggest convoy battle of World War II, as waves of Nazi torpedo- and dive-bombers and packs of U-boats savagely and relentlessly attacked the merchant vessels.
On Sept. 14, the GREENE was severely damaged when the next ship in column, loaded with thousands of tons of TNT, was torpedoed. In Dad’s words, “The force of the SS MARY LUCKENBACH's explosion was terrifying. Our vessel was lifted from the sea and shook violently as the obliterated ship fell upon us in shrapnel form! We were in a dense cloud of black smoke, thick with the smell of gunpowder from the explosion, not knowing whether we were to remain afloat or disappear beneath the sea. Tons and tons of shrapnel continued to fall about us, in every size, in cruel and grotesque shapes and patterns. The afterdeck rigging was in ribbons, the crates of deck cargo were blown apart, and the tanks for Stalingrad appeared to be in ruins. Everything within sight was battered by the concussion and vacuum created by the explosion. Our clothing was ripped and torn by the blast, and saturated with shrapnel. The forward part of the ship must have been blown to bits.”
Thinking the GREENE herself had been torpedoed, the captain ordered abandon ship, and the crew manned the lifeboats. However, Dad had one more order to carry out. “Before leaving the gun stations for the lifeboats, I remembered one last thing I had to do. When I was on watch the night before, the captain said to me, ‘Mr. Gill, during today’s battles I noticed that none of our American ships flew their ensign. Now, if we had our Stars and Stripes flying from the gaff…’ I replied ‘Aye, aye, Sir!’ and promised when we went into battle again I would make sure the Stars and Stripes were flying. Today’s enemy action was so time-pressing that I completely overlooked my commitment to the captain. Now that the abandon ship alarm had been sounded, and the crew was manning the lifeboats, I remembered my orders and made my way to the mainmast. I removed the ensign from its locker, bent it on its halyard, and aloft she went! When the men saw the Stars and Stripes flying from the gaff of the mainmast they broke out in cheers. I felt a lump in my throat and overwhelmed with emotion and thought, ‘What heroes! We have so much to fight for!’”
The GREENE survived the explosion and, after falling behind the convoy, steamed back into position, to thunderous cheers from the other vessels in the convoy. “The men in the other ships cheered and cheered as we caught up with them. The Stars and Stripes was still flying over this Yankee, so horribly scarred from battle with the enemy, with rigging hanging from its masts in threads, with portholes blown in, life rafts blown away, and its decks strewn with debris from its shattered deck cargo. All that mattered to us now was that we were still alive and afloat, and that we were going to make it!”
The GREENE docked in Archangel on Sept. 21, and the munitions it had hauled thousands of miles across the U-boat-infested North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans was being put to use by the Red Army in Stalingrad two days later. She returned safely to Britain, but on Feb. 24, 1943, she was torpedoed and destroyed by U-565 in the Mediterranean after delivering munitions to Allied forces in North Africa. For her heroic performance in the Arctic Ocean and the Mediterranean, the SS NATHANAEL GREENE was designated by President Roosevelt as a GALLANT SHIP OF WORLD WAR II, one of only nine merchant ships to be so honored, out of the 4,300 that participated in the war.
So, once again, I fly Old Glory from my front porch. I fly it for my great-great-grandfather who fought in the Civil War with the 6th Massachusetts Regiment, for my father and his four brothers who served in the Merchant Marine during World War II, for my father-in-law who fought as a tank commander in France and Germany, for my mother who immigrated to Boston from Ireland as a girl. I fly the flag for all Americans, even those who want to define America in ways contrary to my own beliefs and ideals. I can’t give up on my country. After the sacrifices made by all those who came before me, I don’t have the right to.
This is the first story I ever read on the internet that made me flat-out sob. It also put me in mind of my father, a WWII South Pacific combat infantry officer. He and my mother lived in a university town suburb on a cul-de-sac circle. He sank (or had sunk) a sound flagpole base in the middle of the circle and early in the morning of every patriotic national holiday raised Old Glory high. Wayne Watts, his young nextdoor neighbor, took over the duty after he died. That's a while back. I sure hope Wayne or a younger neighbor is keeping the tradition alive. My father's service deserves it. I've been trying to convince our side since Nam that the flag belongs to us, if anything more than to the other side.
I have flown the National Colors for every holiday since I bought my first house in 1988. I’ve flown them every day since 9/11/01 ( properly displayed, illuminated, and replaced when worn). I will NOT let the MAGAts take that from me.
My Dad was a WWII USAAC Tech Sergeant stationed in China. I was unable to lie to get into the Navy, so became a cop instead.
I remember this post from when it first came out. It's wonderful: thoughtful, beautiful, true. I hope you repost it every July 4th! Wishing you and Shannon and all of your descendents a very happy day.
Amazing to have blood ties to American history. Most American Jews can, with luck, go back maybe three generations. You and Shannon at Jefferson's grave are a story all by itself.
Thank you for this opportunity to read about the truth of our Freedom Loving Country . Freedom for White people. Freedom for the wealthiest Americans.
But freedom for us to live by the Constitution is challenged . Challenged by 5 powerful white men on the Supreme Court who are also White Supremacists.
White Supremacists have no tolerance or concern for people who have lacked power historically ; women, African Americans , immigrants ( except from Scandinavian countries) , Native Americans , Hispanics , people from Puerto Rico, who are Americans , they just don’t have the rights of Americans.
Native Americans , who continue to be treated poorly by our Government . They are still trying to access their rights from old treaties.
African Americans who had no desire to come to this Country , but were kidnapped, horribly mistreated and enslaved by White Wealth , power and Supremacy .
What should we do ?
Don’t ask the White Supremacists on the Supreme Court they are now working to remove all of our rights, power and freedom .
It is purposeful, it is not coincidental . It is a Putin Trump Heritage Foundation Maga plan . 2025.
Because these people truly believe , because they’re wealthy and bigoted, they should make all the laws. We all know their theory is wrong , foolish , corrupt and vile.
We need to vote out their lies , policies , and twisted agendas in November Fifth , 2024.
I have 5 adult children and 7 grandchildren .
One of my daughters married an African American man. They have two beautiful daughters.
The fact that we need to still fight for their rights is disturbing but realistic.
The blanket problem with the huge Threat to our Democracy, is the refusal of all of the threatening White Supremacist Entities, is their refusal to live in reality . They claim to be Christians . They claim this is Gods will. How can this possibly be Gods will?
God loves all and every one of his children , wherever they come from on this wide earth .
Agree, history can't be rewritten because what was is what is.
That said, it hasn't stopped countless numbers from trying and trying.
Project 2025 is among them. After reading P25 the better title is the 2nd Revolutionary War. Its target is not a King, but rather a nebulous Boogieman, the deep state. The deep state is only a euphemism for their true target, The Other.
This column resonates now more than ever. I have never been so frightened for our country as I am now.
What gets me is the irony, that those who claim to love our country hate the very things that make it great: equality, opportunity, and the freedom to live authentically.
I wonder what the Founding Fathers would think about the predicament we’re in.
Thank you for reposting this, Lucian. I wasn’t one of your readers when you posted it originally. Those of us who are reading it for the first time are so fortunate to have this opportunity. Your family history - ALL of Jefferson’s descendants - IS the history of the United States, and those who try to deny and / or rewrite our history are showing their insecurity, their fear, their inadequacies, whether they know those or not. This is a beautiful, sensitive, and oh so important piece of writing. Thank you!
Great column. If we keep erasing our history, American students will be like those we met in Romania who told us that Jews used to live in Romania but they "decided to leave" when in fact they were killed.
Yes, thanks for sharing your history!
Rereading this today is the most uplifting piece I have read all week. It’s the beautiful repair that comes from embracing history - the good and the bad - without fear. The brotherhood is truly beautiful. I believe Mr Jefferson would be both humbled and relieved by what you have achieved, and immensely proud of you both.
Now, let’s work to keep all that we have gained “towards a more perfect union.” It’s scary times. Education is key. So is truth.
I love the phrase "It's the beautiful repair that comes from embracing history." Exactly. And too many people are afraid to do that.
I was connected to a fourth cousin with 88% African ancestry, while mine is 0% African. He wanted to know how we were cousins. From census records I learned that a seventh-great-grandfather had two slaves in his household. Could it be that his 1000 acre plantation was worked by volunteers? This is the slave-holding ancestor that I do know about. My point is that likely most white people with roots in the South going way back have one or more enslaving ancestors. There are few African-American people today without some European ancestry.
The fastest-growing racial category on the last census is “more than one race.” Eventually people will fall in love with their adorable grandchildren, regardless of their mixture of ethnicities.
Thank you, Chris. Fear can run deep. It keeps people frozen.
Frozen is definiely the right word. How many wonderful connections and relationships are we missing out on because of that fear? How long will it take us to finally see our common humanity? I would like to think it could happen in my lifetime, but at the present time I'm not holding my breath. But I'm always hopeful.
Thank you Lucian for this and all of your columns. You give hope when all I feel is despair. Happy 4th
What a beautiful and revealing piece! Thanks for sharing it.
I love this country, too. I appreciate the freedom America has given me to thrive.
I won't give it up, ever, and I will stand with you, Shannon, and every other person who loves this country to preserve and protect it. Even if it costs me my life.
There’s a strain of national narcissism that struggles to be proud of how far we’ve come, and how possible it is to be even BETTER than today … and those who suffer it just cannot admit to a seriously flawed past. They truly believe knowing where we’ve come from is a stain on all of us today, rather than an object lesson to always strive to be better.
SOME are just afraid that people will exploit our racist past somehow. That’s not the point of understanding it, though … The point of understanding is to be a better people…
Thanks, Lucian Truscott, IV, for always striving to be a better person.
"[A] stain on all of us today," well if transhistorical collective guilt was legit we'd have to take that stain, that fear seriously, also start rewriting a huge amount of international law!
It's likely more the sheer political power they are losing that motivates the willful ignorance.
I really don't think I'd want to be one of the morons dumb enough to cross you, Lucian.
Thanks for reposting this. It was great three years ago and better today.
Lucian: I want to share with you a letter I published in our local paper, the ADDISON COUNTY INDEPENDENT, on July 4, 2020. My feelings about our flag and the ideals it represents have only intensified since that time.
We flew the American flag in front of our house for years. But, as America became increasingly partisan, we stopped flying it. We devoutly believe in the ideals represented by the flag, but have no truck with the “America, love it or leave it” attitude of many Americans.
But I never felt right about this. What gave these people exclusive rights to our national banner? Didn’t I have an obligation to defend the very idea of America, as defined by Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt? And there was a bit of family history that inspired me to restore the Stars and Stripes to its rightful place on our porch.
My father, Paul Gill Sr., was the 22-year-old Third Mate on the Liberty Ship SS NATHANAEL GREENE when, on Sept. 2, 1942, it weighed anchor in Loch Ewe, Scotland, and headed out to sea. The GREENE was part of convoy PQ-18, a massive armada of merchant ships and naval escorts en route to Archangel, Russia, with war matériel destined for the Red Army at Stalingrad. Over the next 19 days, the convoy took part in the biggest convoy battle of World War II, as waves of Nazi torpedo- and dive-bombers and packs of U-boats savagely and relentlessly attacked the merchant vessels.
On Sept. 14, the GREENE was severely damaged when the next ship in column, loaded with thousands of tons of TNT, was torpedoed. In Dad’s words, “The force of the SS MARY LUCKENBACH's explosion was terrifying. Our vessel was lifted from the sea and shook violently as the obliterated ship fell upon us in shrapnel form! We were in a dense cloud of black smoke, thick with the smell of gunpowder from the explosion, not knowing whether we were to remain afloat or disappear beneath the sea. Tons and tons of shrapnel continued to fall about us, in every size, in cruel and grotesque shapes and patterns. The afterdeck rigging was in ribbons, the crates of deck cargo were blown apart, and the tanks for Stalingrad appeared to be in ruins. Everything within sight was battered by the concussion and vacuum created by the explosion. Our clothing was ripped and torn by the blast, and saturated with shrapnel. The forward part of the ship must have been blown to bits.”
Thinking the GREENE herself had been torpedoed, the captain ordered abandon ship, and the crew manned the lifeboats. However, Dad had one more order to carry out. “Before leaving the gun stations for the lifeboats, I remembered one last thing I had to do. When I was on watch the night before, the captain said to me, ‘Mr. Gill, during today’s battles I noticed that none of our American ships flew their ensign. Now, if we had our Stars and Stripes flying from the gaff…’ I replied ‘Aye, aye, Sir!’ and promised when we went into battle again I would make sure the Stars and Stripes were flying. Today’s enemy action was so time-pressing that I completely overlooked my commitment to the captain. Now that the abandon ship alarm had been sounded, and the crew was manning the lifeboats, I remembered my orders and made my way to the mainmast. I removed the ensign from its locker, bent it on its halyard, and aloft she went! When the men saw the Stars and Stripes flying from the gaff of the mainmast they broke out in cheers. I felt a lump in my throat and overwhelmed with emotion and thought, ‘What heroes! We have so much to fight for!’”
The GREENE survived the explosion and, after falling behind the convoy, steamed back into position, to thunderous cheers from the other vessels in the convoy. “The men in the other ships cheered and cheered as we caught up with them. The Stars and Stripes was still flying over this Yankee, so horribly scarred from battle with the enemy, with rigging hanging from its masts in threads, with portholes blown in, life rafts blown away, and its decks strewn with debris from its shattered deck cargo. All that mattered to us now was that we were still alive and afloat, and that we were going to make it!”
The GREENE docked in Archangel on Sept. 21, and the munitions it had hauled thousands of miles across the U-boat-infested North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans was being put to use by the Red Army in Stalingrad two days later. She returned safely to Britain, but on Feb. 24, 1943, she was torpedoed and destroyed by U-565 in the Mediterranean after delivering munitions to Allied forces in North Africa. For her heroic performance in the Arctic Ocean and the Mediterranean, the SS NATHANAEL GREENE was designated by President Roosevelt as a GALLANT SHIP OF WORLD WAR II, one of only nine merchant ships to be so honored, out of the 4,300 that participated in the war.
So, once again, I fly Old Glory from my front porch. I fly it for my great-great-grandfather who fought in the Civil War with the 6th Massachusetts Regiment, for my father and his four brothers who served in the Merchant Marine during World War II, for my father-in-law who fought as a tank commander in France and Germany, for my mother who immigrated to Boston from Ireland as a girl. I fly the flag for all Americans, even those who want to define America in ways contrary to my own beliefs and ideals. I can’t give up on my country. After the sacrifices made by all those who came before me, I don’t have the right to.
Paul G. Gill, Jr.
Middlebury
This is wonderful. Good on you and good on your dad.
Read ARMAGEDDON IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN to learn more about Dad’s challenges and heroics growing up in Depression-era America. (I sent you a copy.)
This is the first story I ever read on the internet that made me flat-out sob. It also put me in mind of my father, a WWII South Pacific combat infantry officer. He and my mother lived in a university town suburb on a cul-de-sac circle. He sank (or had sunk) a sound flagpole base in the middle of the circle and early in the morning of every patriotic national holiday raised Old Glory high. Wayne Watts, his young nextdoor neighbor, took over the duty after he died. That's a while back. I sure hope Wayne or a younger neighbor is keeping the tradition alive. My father's service deserves it. I've been trying to convince our side since Nam that the flag belongs to us, if anything more than to the other side.
I have flown the National Colors for every holiday since I bought my first house in 1988. I’ve flown them every day since 9/11/01 ( properly displayed, illuminated, and replaced when worn). I will NOT let the MAGAts take that from me.
My Dad was a WWII USAAC Tech Sergeant stationed in China. I was unable to lie to get into the Navy, so became a cop instead.
Good for you, Ally. That must take some effort. It does honor to your dad too.
Looking forward to our lunch on the 22nd. Do we have a destination yet?
Yes, I messaged you!
I remember this post from when it first came out. It's wonderful: thoughtful, beautiful, true. I hope you repost it every July 4th! Wishing you and Shannon and all of your descendents a very happy day.
Amazing to have blood ties to American history. Most American Jews can, with luck, go back maybe three generations. You and Shannon at Jefferson's grave are a story all by itself.
Some of us go back less than a generation.
Your words about Texas remind me of what my late brother said about the sacred-to-Texans Alamo: “Where men fought for the right to own slaves.”
Thank you for this opportunity to read about the truth of our Freedom Loving Country . Freedom for White people. Freedom for the wealthiest Americans.
But freedom for us to live by the Constitution is challenged . Challenged by 5 powerful white men on the Supreme Court who are also White Supremacists.
White Supremacists have no tolerance or concern for people who have lacked power historically ; women, African Americans , immigrants ( except from Scandinavian countries) , Native Americans , Hispanics , people from Puerto Rico, who are Americans , they just don’t have the rights of Americans.
Native Americans , who continue to be treated poorly by our Government . They are still trying to access their rights from old treaties.
African Americans who had no desire to come to this Country , but were kidnapped, horribly mistreated and enslaved by White Wealth , power and Supremacy .
What should we do ?
Don’t ask the White Supremacists on the Supreme Court they are now working to remove all of our rights, power and freedom .
It is purposeful, it is not coincidental . It is a Putin Trump Heritage Foundation Maga plan . 2025.
Because these people truly believe , because they’re wealthy and bigoted, they should make all the laws. We all know their theory is wrong , foolish , corrupt and vile.
We need to vote out their lies , policies , and twisted agendas in November Fifth , 2024.
I have 5 adult children and 7 grandchildren .
One of my daughters married an African American man. They have two beautiful daughters.
The fact that we need to still fight for their rights is disturbing but realistic.
The blanket problem with the huge Threat to our Democracy, is the refusal of all of the threatening White Supremacist Entities, is their refusal to live in reality . They claim to be Christians . They claim this is Gods will. How can this possibly be Gods will?
God loves all and every one of his children , wherever they come from on this wide earth .
Thank you Lucian, for putting up rhis great column again, as it should be each 4th. It is the core of where we are and where we come from.
Someone wrote on my FB page that the real Independence Day will be November 5, 2024!
Agree, history can't be rewritten because what was is what is.
That said, it hasn't stopped countless numbers from trying and trying.
Project 2025 is among them. After reading P25 the better title is the 2nd Revolutionary War. Its target is not a King, but rather a nebulous Boogieman, the deep state. The deep state is only a euphemism for their true target, The Other.
So be it.