Think it’s cold? Some of us are experiencing record-low temps. Don’t like snow? Many of us do not appreciate two-foot snowstorms.

But… imagine, if you can, George Washington’s troops at Morristown NJ in the “hard winter” of 1779-1780 in conditions far harsher than we’re experiencing. Worse, even, than the terrible winter at Valley Forge a few years earlier. Most of the men were pretty much outside.

Sub-zero temperatures. Twenty snowstorms. “Shelter” was a log cabin shared by a dozen men and barely heated, if they could find something to burn. There was never enough to eat, and the snowstorms and icy roads made it almost impossible to get supplies to the troops.

The troops’ clothing was threadbare, if not in tatters. The lucky soldiers might have shoes; many went barefoot. Many didn’t survive. And yet they soldiered on. They fought for freedom. For their children. For us.

As we await the next storm, let us remember, and give thanks for, those brave soldiers who made American independence possible despite tremendous obstacles.

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