America | Happy 250th Birthday, America
Did you know when you left Ireland
And sailed across the sea,
That your courage laid a cornerstone
That shaped our destiny?
Did you know your faith in God and man
Your vision and your will to share,
Would someday make America
The hope of freedom everywhere?
You faced the flaming cannon’s mouth,
You were not afraid to die.
You had what made a soldier great
And never questioned why.
You Patriots, now long at rest,
Who sleep beneath the sod;
You helped preserve our liberty
In this nation, under God.
We owe a debt of gratitude
To you who paved the way,
So we can have the lifestyle
That we all enjoy today.
Ancestors came from far away
To settle on our soil.
They broke the sod, built homes and schools
With sacrifice and toil.
We’re the breadbasket of the world,
Our livestock is the best;
The land and legacy you left
To all of us are blessed.
But many years have come and gone
Since you first came to our shore,
We’ve seen our share of hardships,
Our perils and our wars.
Tho’ there are fifty stars on it,
Old Glory’s still the same,
Of all the battles we have faced
There’s one that still remains:
We have an obligation
To our country to be true,
To stand in honor of the land
That’s been good to me and you.
As we celebrate the birthday
Of our Independence Day,
Two-hundred fifty years and more
We’ve been blessed in many ways.
From ranches, farms and city streets
Let’s renew our patriotism,
And honor those dear warriors
Who shared their selfless vision.
Let’s remember all those Patriots
That came across the sea
To fight to lift the tyrant’s yoke
And help to set us free.
Let’s thank God for the freedoms
That He endowed to me and you,
And be proud to grace the colors
Of our dear Red, White and Blue.
About the Steele Brothers:
This poem is a tribute to the Steele Brothers of Midway (now Steele’s Tavern), Virginia. David, Andrew, and Samuel Steele left Ireland in the mid-1700s to come to Augusta County, Virginia, to help fight the British. After the War, David owned and operated gristmills in the area and his land holdings included the wheat field where Cyrus McCormick first demonstrated his mechanical reaper (the first of its kind). McCormick was married to a sister of the Steele Brothers. The brothers had volunteered to fight in the local militia against the British. When he was 22 years old, David Steele served as Wagon Master under General Nathaniel Green and was severely wounded during the defeat at the Battle of Guilford, Courthouse. After saying, “It is hard to kill an Irishman,” somehow David made it home. He had surgery to remove a portion of his skull and replace the missing portion with a metal plate. David and his wife, Mary, built Steeles Tavern, a resting place for travelers passing through the Shenandoah Valley. Andrew Steele is Yvonne Hollenbeck’s Patriot ancestor.
