These are tough times for many in America.
Countless families are struggling to make ends meet.
We are trillions in debt.
In the classroom, our children are falling behind because they are being exposed more to social engineering, and not math, science, American history, and grammar.
Globally, our adversaries continue to test us.
And on the American homeland, we are seeing the results of open borders, as millions of illegal immigrants wreaking havoc as they flood our nation.
Yes, these are challenging times for our republic.
Old Glory is a little tattered, the Statute of Liberty weathered.
But there’s one thing to remember this, and every, Fourth of July.
While America has been tested time and time again since her Founding, her people are resilient. No matter the odds or darkness of the hour, Americans never give up.
They fight. They come back.
July 4, 1776 officially marks the day we declared our independence from British rule.
The Fourth of July is a time to remember what it means to be an American and what those early Americans went through to win our independence and build the young Republic.
Today, the Fourth of July is often associated with fireworks, barbeques, and family get-togethers.
It should also be a time to reflect on the sacrifices made by those to secure the freedoms we have today.
Fortunately for us, during America’s darkest hours, God has consistently blessed us with ordinary people who do extraordinary things.
The list is long of the Americans who have made the ultimate sacrifice to secure and maintain our freedom.
In a speech at Hickam Air Force Base in 1984, then-President Ronald Reagan, praising the bravery and valor of the American military, quoted an Admiral who, during time of war, asked the question, "Where do we find such men?"
President Reagan elaborated, "We find them where we have always found them when we need them . . . on the main streets and farms of America."
While we officially declared our independence from British rule on July 4, 1776, our independence and yes, our very freedom, was far from secure.
In fact, the infant republic was hanging on by a thread for several years thereafter.
With our troops starving and freezing to death, it wasn’t really until the Battle of Cowpens that things began to turn for the Americans.
At the Battle of Cowpens, the Scots-Irish of the backwoods of South Carolina came together and teamed up with General Daniel Morgan’s Continental regulars to turn the tide of the American Revolutionary War and rout the British.
These rugged pioneers who had come to America seeking freedom and a better life, set in motion a chain of events that would ultimately lead to the British surrender later that year at Yorktown on October 19, 1781.
Our freedom was finally secure, at least for a while.
Since winning that initial freedom during the American Revolutionary War, the security of our nation has been tested again and again.
Whether it was the Civil War, World War II, 9/11 or any number of times when America and the cause of freedom was under attack, the American people have always rose to the occasion and shown the world that special, "never give up" DNA which is inherently American.
President Reagan was right. Young Americans have always answered the call of their country to respond to any, and all challenges.
From the ill-clothed, half frozen militia men at Valley Forge, to the brave Marines on the sands of Iwo Jima, to the thousands and thousands of young Americans who volunteered to keep America safe after 9/11.
This Fourth of July, be proud to be an American and of your American heritage.
Tell the "American story" of perseverance and resilience when our nation has been challenged and its back is against the wall.
And most of all, thank God for his blessings and for living in what President Lincoln more than rightfully described as, "the last best hope of earth."
Van Hipp is Chairman of American Defense International, Inc. He is the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Army and author of "The New Terrorism: How to Fight It and Defeat It." He is the 2018 recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Sept. 11 Garden Leadership Award for National Security. Read Van Hipp's Reports — More Here.