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Show Pge HILL TOP TIMES July 3. 1980 slh A lot of years have passed since those brave men of the Continental Congress voted in Philadelphia's State House on a hot and sultry Thursday in early July. What has prevailed since then is their commitment, their total dedication to preserving freedom, liberty, and individual rights. Carefully considering the proposed declaration by Jefferson, Franklin, Adams and Livingston, the Congress came to no easy decision. The works, drawn primarily by the young Jefferson, have reverberated through the halls" of history ever since. What has really survived through those 204 years is the spirit, the intent of that magnificent document. The talk of "unalienable rights," the "consent of the governed," and "free and independent states" merely symbolized the splendid concept of a daring, innovative approach to political stability and government. That simple, surprisingly clear expression of conviction is much more, than a roster of George Ill's sins. It declared to the world that what was struggling into birth here on this continent was a return to the ancient dreams of the Greek states, to the personal nobility of the Magna Carta a new attempt at the democratic experiment. I certainly think it has worked, and is continuing to work. But, as we have learned so many times, Freedom and liberty are extremely expensive. Those 54 brave men in 1776 declared their willingness to pay the price, but we must declare our willingness as well. With the newest challenges of international pressure, economic discomfort, political uneasiness, we need to reaffirm that commitment. eg)! oppress do on, DDI cfls, fliresitfirinieirirt help cireotfe iresoiyflioim important, as challenging as anything that tentative revolution faced two centuries ago. (LOGNEWS) This fourth of July, take a minute or so to remember that first July 4th. Remember Adams and Jefferson and but that memory is not enough. Use it to Franklin commit yourself to our current needs, our current requirements. They are, in their 20th Century way, as DEVDOI1 J,-U- Ihiosteim hxailDs ,flhiryglhi -- s- Gen. Bryce Poe II AFLC Commander EPEMBENCE DAY lt It was hot. Too many people were crowded into the room. What breeze there was carried the stench of rotting garbage from the streets. Tempers rose with the temperature and discussion over selection of a single word could erupt into an argument. As the noon hour approached each day, the men adjourned to nearby taverns, carrying their grudges with them. Mugs thumped on tabletops to emphasize points of view. ; They continued through the hotter afternoons, some of them working late into the nights, others seeking relief from the heat, but each day they came back, arguing and fighting. Their purpose was clear, but the method was not. They were tired of the way they were treated, tired of the oppression and illegal acts against them. They met in defiance of the government to compose a list of grievances. Though fighting had. already broken out, some men in the overheated room still hoped the complaints could be taken care of, and further fighting stopped. But it was already too late to turn back. Blood had been shed, battles had been fought, and the people would not be stopped. They wanted freedom from tyranny. From that crowded room came a resolution which summed up the people's feelings : "When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them vith another. . . ." The list of complaints became a resolution, then a declaration and the authors absolved all allegiance to their oppressor and announced themselves a free country. The United States of America was born. (AFNS). There is no other place' lstf hope ws Amen c Bakunas Airlift Command Headquarters, Military It was a balmy June day in 1944. My mother and I boarded a German freighter which was to take us away from German-occupie- d Lithuania into Germany itself. We settled near the railing for an unobstructed view of Klaipeda, the city of Thy birth. My mother gazed into the distance. and remember that skyline," she "Look said. "You will never see it again." Even though I was only seven years old, the finality inner voice had a profound impact on me. That same sense of foreboding was also evident on the hundreds of faces as we pulled away from the dock and headed out across the Baltic Sea. Our immediate goal was to escape Soviet occupation. This despite our harsh five-yeexperience under German occupation. If occupation under the Germans was intolerable, occupation under the Soviets was unthinkable. Deportations to Siberia, total abolishment of personal freedoms and the substitution of Communist philosophy for religious freedom were but a few practices which Lithuanians became familiar with during previous Soviet occupations. So, we By Lt. Col. Darius V. tear-streak- ed ar fled. Our journey stopped briefly on a farm in eastern Germany. But the Soviets were advancing into eastern Germany and it was time to flee again. Thus began a voyage of almost a year, through a Germany which was feeling the wrath of the Allies. We could have avoided all this if only we had remained in Lithuania and embraced Communism. But that was never an ' alternative. of . Germany surrendered May 7, 1945. We settled in West Germany with our goal evading Communism temporarily achieved. But the political climate in postwar Europe changed, and the cold war made freedom from Soviet occupation less certain. My father began to explore ways of leaving Europe. We located an aunt and uncle with whom we had lost contact during the war. They arranged for our emigration to the United States. We boarded a World War II troop ship, in December 1949, for the Atlantic crossing.. Somehow it seemed like the start of another odyssey similar to the one we began in 1944. As we headed out to the open sea, I asked my father; "Where will we go if the Soviets come to America?" His answer was firm, "There is no other place." (AFNS) E DAY Everything advertised in the Hill Top Times must be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to the race, creed, color, national origin or sex of the purchaser, user or patron. confirmed violation or rejection of this policy of equal opportunities by an advertiser will result in the refusal to print advertising from that source. A . MorMedia Sales, Inc., 1152 West Uiverdale Road. l. Ogden. Utah K44o:i. Telephone Ogden or classified Box ads O. Send to $:t P. mail Sorry, by only. Hoy. 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