Experience the American dream with today’s Patriots of the Past interview. I’m your host, John Gillespie.
It’s September 23, 1779. I’m with Captain John Paul Jones on his ship, Bonhomme Richard, named after Benjamin Franklin. We’re off the coast of England and, for the past three hours, we’ve been in a raging battle with a much larger English frigate, Serapis. There’s fire all around us and we’re right next to the Serapis.
JG: “Captain Jones, Captain Pearson on the Serapis is yelling at you.”
RP: “Captain Jones, are you ready to surrender?”
JPJ: “Surrender? I have not yet begun to fight!”
In one of the fiercest naval battles of the American Revolution, the out-gunned and out-manned American ship refused to surrender and went on to a great victory.
Read more about the Life and Correspondence of John Paul Jones.
John and Jan Gillespie are the founders of the Rawhide Boys’ Ranch; they have fostered 351 teenagers and wrote the book Our 351 Sons; they have also assisted numerous churches in developing youth programs and expanding their total church ministries. After running for U.S. Senate, John founded 1776 American Dream, which exists to demonstrate the vision of our founding fathers and help our generation of youth passionately embrace those values.
