American Patriot 7 by Loeb Enterprises

AMERICAN PATRIOT COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG LEARNING FROM THE PAST

BUSH AND OBAMA CELEBRATING CITIZEN ACTION

TED WILLIAMS BASEBALL STAR AND MARINE PILOT

AMERICAN PATRIOT

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BUSH + OBAMA CELEBRATING CITIZEN ACTION

6 COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG LEARNING FROM THE PAST

TED WILLIAMS BASEBALL STAR AND MARINE PILOT

THE GREATEST GENERATIONS FOUNDATION TRAVELING BACK IN TIME

Contents MERIWETHER LEWIS FORGOTTEN HERO

14 QUOTE OF THE WEEK

12 15 THIS WEEK IN AMERICAN HISTORY

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BUSH AND OBAMA CELEBRATE CITIZEN ACTION On October 16, President Barack Obama joined former President George H. W. Bush (“Bush 41”) to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the vision of a thousand "Points of Light," which catalyzed the modern volunteer service movement. The leaders hosted a presidential forum on community service at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum at Texas A&M University. The event honored the advances of the service movement that started 20 years ago, and the contributions of Presidents Clinton, Bush and Bush to sustain the movement, as well as President Obama’s expansion of the movement with his leadership of the bipartisan Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. The forum addressed the role of service in American communities and in sharing innovative ideas about service as a solution to pressing issues. The event also celebrated the contributions of more than 4,500 Daily Point of Light Award winners. "This is a significant moment in history as these two leaders come together to celebrate their shared vision of service and volunteerism in America," said

Michelle Nunn, chief executive officer, Points of Light Institute. “In 1989, President Bush called the nation to service with the signing of the National and Community Service Act of 1990, the first piece of federal national service legislation that sparked a movement of service, leading to the creation of what is now Points of Light Institute. This call was rooted in a great national tradition — the compassionate and innovative power of citizen action. President Obama has lifted up this call to the nation and has said that he wants to make it a central cause of his Presidency." Said President Bush: “Dating back to our nation's inception, and even before, the uniquely American neighbor-helpingneighbor spirit has sustained us, and strengthened us, through times of peace and prosperity, as well as crisis and challenge. I salute President Obama both for his leadership in renewing this call to community service and for his vision for engaging the next generation of Americans in volunteerism.” LEARN MORE ABOUT THE POINTS OF LIGHT INSTITUTE >

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COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG LEARNING FROM THE PAST

Colonial Williamsburg is the crown jewel of Virginia’s Historic Triangle of Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown, which welcomes roughly four million tourists a year. Colonial Williamsburg itself is a several hundred acre historic district filled with the buildings, streets and squares that, from 1699 to 1780, formed Virginia’s colonial capital. For much of the 18th century, the city was the center of government, education and culture in Virginia — hence the American Colonies — and its inhabitants, at one time or another, included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, James Monroe, James Madison, and dozens more who shaped early America. The motto of Colonial Williamsburg is “that the future may learn from the past,” and the Historic Area is an interpretation of a Colonial city with exhibits that include dozens of authentic or accurately recreated colonial buildings. Not just a museum, however, the town is alive: interpreters work and dress as they did in the era, speak as the colonists did, and visitors can move among them to get the flavor of life in the colonial era. Colonial Williamsburg has become a destination spot for world leaders, including several U.S. presidents. In 1983, the United States hosted the first World Economic Conference there, and Jamestown (the original Virginia settlement) and Yorktown (where the Revolutionary War ended) are linked to the historic area by the bucolic Colonial Parkway, operated by the National Park Service. A popular but distinctly non-colonial family destination, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, a Europe-themed park with rides, is nearby. 6 AMERICAN PATRIOT

CHECK OUT THESE WILLIAMSBURG SITES

The Governor’s Palace This is one of the two largest buildings at Colonial Williamsburg. When the city was the capital of the Virginia Colony, the Governor's Palace was the official residence of the royal governor. The original building took 16 years to construct and was completed in 1721. One of its other illustrious residents was Thomas Jefferson.

Bruton Parish Church This Episcopal Church is both a part of the historic area and the most active parish in Southern Virginia. It has been restored to the colonial era, and name plates on its pews commemorate famous worshippers like George Washington and John Tyler. The church still uses a bell cast in 1761, which rang to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. SEE SCENES FROM THE STORY OF A PATRIOT A WELCOME MOVIE SHOWN AT THE VISITOR’S CENTER > AMERICAN PATRIOT 7

TED WILLIAMS BASEBALL STAR AND MARINE PILOT Baseball fans know Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox as one of the greatest hitters ever. His achievements — Williams was a two-time American League MVP, won the batting title six times and the Triple Crown twice, had a career batting average of .344 with 521 homeruns — propelled him to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

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and was awarded an Air Medal. In 1953, he was back on the field.

But not every fan knows that Williams’ career was twice interrupted by military service as a Marine Corps pilot, once for World War II and again in Korea. In WWII, he enlisted in the Navy. Though he could have drawn an easy assignment playing or coaching baseball, he joined the V-5 program to become a Naval aviator. He received his wings and commission in the U.S. Marine Corps in May 1944, taught pilots to fly, and was in Pearl Harbor awaiting order to join the China fleet when the war ended. He returned to baseball in 1946. Then, again, in 1952, Williams was recalled to active duty for service in the Korean War. After eight weeks of refresher flight training and qualification, he was assigned to Korea. Williams eventually flew 39 combat missions

As good as Williams was as a baseball player, fans wonder what might have been. What if five of his prime years had not been spent in the military? Would he have been the greatest hitter ever? That debate continues to this day at bars, stadiums and on sports radio stations around the country. One way to think about it is this: few ever played so well for so long so those military years would likely have been productive baseball years. Indeed, Williams won an MVP before and after his WWII service, and won the American League batting title at the age of 40, long after the Korean War had ended. It is reasonable to believe that, in the intervening years, he could have passed Babe Ruth’s career home run record (now held by Hank Aaron) and been at or near the top of every career category. But life, of course, is a balancing act. For Ted Williams’ 40th birthday, General Douglas MacArthur, his commander in Korea, sent an oil painting of himself with the inscription “To Ted Williams — not only America's greatest baseball player, but a great American who served his country.”

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MERIWETHER LEWIS FORGOTTEN HERO This fall, two centuries after leading the famous expedition that bears his name, Meriwether Lewis was finally honored as a genuine American hero at his grave site just off the Natchez Trace Parkway in Tennessee. PICTURED ABOVE: Lewis and Clark on the Lower Columbia by C.M. Russell 10 AMERICAN PATRIOT

The Lewis and Clark Expedition took place from 1804 to 1806 and was the first overland expedition undertaken by the U.S. government to the Pacific coast and back. Lewis, along with William Clark, laid much of the groundwork for the westward expansion of the new country. When they returned from the exploration, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were hailed as heroes, but history soon pushed Lewis into the background, in part because of his untimely and, some say, mysterious death. Lewis was born in 1774 on a plantation near Charlottesville, Virginia. He spent his childhood in the wilderness and developed a love of hunting and exploring. As a young man, Lewis fought against the Whiskey Rebellion. From there, he became an officer in the army and fought against Native Americans in the Northwest Territory. He became expert on Native Americans and their languages.

President Thomas Jefferson recruited Lewis to be his private secretary in 1801. For two years, Jefferson prepared him to lead a group of explorers across the Louisiana Purchase. To prepare, Lewis studied navigation, plants, and animals. He also recruited Clark as his assistant. The epic trip itself took three years, with the members of the expedition suffered many hardships as they navigated the Missouri River, crossed the Rocky Mountains, and followed the Columbia River to the west coast and the Pacific. During that journey, Meriwether kept a detailed journal of events, drawn maps, collected plant specimens, and managed to pass peacefully through Indian territory. Upon his return, Lewis was named a Brigadier General, given a land grant, and appointed governor of the Louisiana Territory. Then, in October 1809, he was found dead from gunshot wounds at an Inn. Historians have long debated whether Lewis committed suicide or was murdered; the mystery has never been solved. Among the hundreds attending the recent gravesite event was Peyton “Bud” Clark, a direct descendent of William Clark spoke about how is ancestor respected Lewis, his partner and mentor: “They were ‘sons of the Revolution,’ drawn together by an unmistakable chemistry. William Clark wrote that Meriwether Lewis was a man of impeccable integrity... This celebration to honor Meriwether Lewis is long overdue. He truly is an American hero.” FOLLOW LEWIS AND CLARK’S TRAIL> AMERICAN PATRIOT 11

THE GREATEST GENERATIONS FOUNDATION

TRAVELING BACK IN TIME Americans do their best to honor the men and women who fought for them on the frontlines of freedom. The Greatest Generations Foundation is one such organization whose primary mission is to fund trips for veterans to return to their former battlefields.

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The idea is that the journeys help veterans achieve some measure of closure on their war experience, share the gratitude of the people for whom they fought, and educate others on their individual experiences in a broader historical context. The Foundation services men and women who fought in World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam, and has it expanded its efforts to education and preservation efforts as well as the visits.

three questions: Would they go back if they could; would they like to go with family members or other veterans; and could they afford the trip?” Mr. Davis said. He discovered that most veterans would go back if they could, that they would prefer to go with other veterans, and that few could afford to do so on their own.

Interestingly, the Foundation was formed by an Australian native, Timothy Davis, who was inspired by his grandfathers’ service in World War II. He came from a military family. Many of his ancestors fought alongside the U.S., Britain and other Allied powers in both world wars. After traveling through Europe and Asia to see the sites of many battlefields, he came to America and, as he explains, "I started talking to veterans. I wanted to learn about the American veterans' experience. I traveled to Europe for the 60th anniversary of D-Day. Many Allied veterans attended, but few were from the United States. I wondered why."

Mr. Davis, who now lives in Colorado with his wife and two sons, started to raise funds in 2000; by 2004 the effort coalesced into a formal non-profit organization. On the first official trip, Davis took 15 veterans to the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge. Since its inception, the Foundation has directly touched more than 11,000 veterans. This includes battlefield trips, organized tours of national destinations, and other educational activities. Journeys in 2009 include, or will include: Normandy for D-Day activities; Holland, to mark Operation Market Garden, a major World War II air battle; the 65th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge; and Hawaii for Pearl Harbor survivors. Iwo Jima is on the schedule for 2010.

He came home and began to research World War II veterans. “I asked them

GET MORE INFORMATION ON THE FOUNDATION AND SEE PHOTOS OF THE TRIPS > AMERICAN PATRIOT 13

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world; ask not what American can do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

— JOHN F. KENNEDY INAUGURAL ADDRESS, 1961

SEE A VIDEO OF JFK’S SPEECH >

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THIS WEEK IN

AMERICAN HISTORY

1789. The first American holiday is proclaimed by President George Washington. It is called Thanksgiving Day, and is dedicated as a day of prayer and public appreciation for the successful establishment of the new American democracy. Pictured Above: THE FIRST THANKSGIVING, painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1863â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1930)

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