Experience the American dream with today’s Patriots of the Past interview. I’m your host, John Gillespie.
It’s December 4, 1779. I’m in the living room with Betsy Martin, sitting in front of a warm fireplace. Her brother, Joseph, is fighting in the Continental Army.
JG: “Betsy, do you miss your brother, Joseph?”
BM: “I miss him terribly. It’s so cold and I worry that he doesn’t have enough warm clothes. There are reports of men freezing. I just hope and pray he’ll be home by Christmas.”
Joseph Martin, the brave teenage Yankee soldier, did not get home by Christmas, but he survived that horrible winter of 1779 and helped defeat the British army to win freedom for America.
Read the full text of Joseph Plumb Martin’s fascinating book, A Narrative of Some of the Adventures, Dangers, and Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier.
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.
