During the Rand Paul filibuster of John Brennan's appointment as CIA chief, US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas read the stirring letter of William Barret Travis as he was under siege at the Alamo. (Full text follows video).
Again, from Texas Heritage Society:Commandancy of the The AlamoBejar, Feby. 24th. 1836To the People of Texas & All Americans in the World—Fellow Citizens & compatriots—I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna — I have sustained a continual Bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man — The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken — I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls — I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch — The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country — Victory or Death.William Barrett Travis.Lt. Col. comdt.P. S. The Lord is on our side — When the enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn — We have since found in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels and got into the walls 20 or 30 head of Beeves.Travis
The Travis letter is dated February 24, 1836. Some have mistakenly referred to this as Travis' last letter from the Alamo. He wrote at least four more letters. Travis wrote a letter to General Sam Houston dated February 25, 1836 and three letters dated March 3, 1836. One of Travis' letters dated March 3, 1836 which urgently requested aid for the Alamo was received by the Convention at Washington, Texas on March 6, 1836. The delegates to the Convention at Washington had declared the independence of Texas four days before on March 2, 1836.The original letters are below:
Travis never did surrender or retreat. After a thirteen day siege by thousands of Mexican soldiers under the command of Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the Alamo fell on March 6, 1836. All of the Alamo's 189 defenders, including William Barrett Travis, were killed. The country he and the others died for, the Republic of Texas, was only four days old.The original "Victory or Death" letter written by William Barrett Travis on February 24, 1836 is located in the Texas State Library and Archives in Austin, Texas.
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3 comments:
Travis's letter is truly inspirational, like all great figures who stand on principles and give themselves to a higher calling. The great men who gave their lives at the Alamo all lived up to the standard set in the Declaration of Independence to mutually pledge to each other their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
Unfortunately, Ted Cruz lost credibility when he refused to answer the question on Sean Hannity about natural born Citizen.
http://obamareleaseyourrecords.blogspot.com/2013/03/sean-hannity-declares-canadian-born-ted.html
Really? He is going to leave that to others to decide? That is very alarming to me.
As a sitting Senator, he swore this oath:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the
Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."
After watching that interview, he doesn't seem to take his oath to seriously or understand his duties as a Citizen or a Senator, just like the rest of the folks on the Hill. We don't pick which parts to defend, it is all or nothing.
Here is a great blog that discusses natural born Citizen (among other Constitutional issues) to use against "NBC" Deniers.
http://publiushuldah.wordpress.com/category/natural-born-citizen/
I agree that NBC is important but I see his response much differently from you. I've seen Cruz VERY close up during the campaign here in Texas (which I helped on) and found him often making hard issues with integrity. I didn't see his answer as evasion however, but as one with great wisdom. Had he jumped into that - the entire story would have been about THAT rather than his bill to repeal ObamaCare, which he is aggressively pushing. We all know that it won't go anywhere in this Senate - but Cruz seems to have the discipline many on our side are lacking by being media savvy enough to keep focus on what he's talking about. (legitimate rape anyone?) You might be right and time will tell - but I wouldn't be too hard at the moment. Many of us on the Cruz grassroots effort believes he already knows that he isn't eligible and has the integrity to say so when it's important.
Hopefully you are right about Senator Ted Cruz, I have not written him off yet. I just find it a red flag, especially when we currently have a sitting ineligible President. After watching Rubio being asked multiple times and never putting the issue to rest, I am skeptical. Maybe I'm just extremely annoyed with Hannity for concluding that segment with his "uninformed opinion" that he is a natural born Citizen.
If what you say is correct (and I am not disputing it), in that Senator Cruz wanted to stay on message about repealing ObamaCare, why was Hannity trying to take him off message to talk about the possibility of a future Presidential bid? Unfortunately only he can answer that question but it makes one wonder. It reminds me of why I don't bother watching cable news in the first place and why television was and is called the idiot box. lol
I do enjoy reading your articles and look forward to your next.
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