I thought I would set out a brief history of America through the medium of looking at our heroes and patriots. There will not be a long listing of names, but rather the events which were necessarily made up of heroes and patriots. Historical events, though, are not the only place in America to find heroes and patriots. We find them every day in every place in America. There are common people who do uncommon things. There are also the people who act responsibly every day in their home, in helping with nurturing the young in the nuclear as well as outside the family, in the workplace, in supporting the institutions of government, leaders in meeting the spiritual needs of parishioners, folks lending a hand to strangers, in all kinds of public service, and there are those who recognize danger to their community and to their country by being aware and alert, and act on it. This is a place for honoring heroes and patriots.