HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF “THE CHAINS AT WEST POINT?” If not, its time you did! Historical information such as this should not be overlooked as we contemplate the struggle that our forefathers endured to ensure liberty for all of us.

Few places in the world have more significance than West Point. Here, in 1775, General George Washington’s emissaries selected a site to protect access to the Hudson River Valley from the British. Their best choice was “the West Point,” where the river narrows into an s-shaped bend, surrounded by high cliffs, and where it is buffeted by unpredictable winds and difficult tides.

Here, in 1778, the colonists had one of the most strategic fortifications in the new nation. While Washington and his troops suffered through the winter at Valley Forge, Americans at West Point were using the unique terrain and river configuration to build a defensive position that would prevent the British from sailing up the Hudson. The British strategy was to use the Hudson River to cut off New England from the rest of the states.

Here, in 1778, a great chain was erected across the river from West Point to Constitution Island. The links, some of which are still on display at Trophy Point, were as large as dinner plates. Because of its weight, the chain had to be supported by long rafts. Its use as a deterrent apparently was successful---it was never tested.

And here, in 1780, Major General Benedict Arnold, hero of Saratoga and then commander of West Point and the Hudson Highlands, turned traitor and tried to sell the fortress to the British.

West Point today is dotted with monuments to the past. Cannons, chains, statues and restored fortifications remind us of the struggle for freedom. These monuments exist not only to point to the past, but to help preserve the future. They stand to remind future generations that freedom is not free. From Valley Forge to Normandy, from Gettysburg to Baghdad, freedom has never been free!

The founders of our nation believed that they would be free men as long as they lived in obedience to the authority of Almighty God. That truth has not changed. Freedom is still a spiritual movement: freedom under God is its foundation. To be able to think, believe, and act from a conscience in subservience to the will of God is the greatest freedom of all. Written by the Reverend Samuel Smith, and first sung in historic Park Street Church on Boston Common on July 4, 1832, the following song, familiar to us all, expresses the role of freedom in its American context.
My country, ‘tis of thee
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing:

Land where my fathers died
Land of the pilgrims’ pride
From every mountain-side
Let freedom ring.

My native country, thee
Land of the noble free
Thy name I love;
I love they rocks and rills
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills
Like that above.

The final stanza of this hymn is sung in the Cadet Chapel of West Point each Sunday at the conclusion of the service.

Our fathers’ God, to Thee,
Author of liberty
To Thee we sing
Long may our land be bright
With freedom’s holy light:
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King.