My Heroes... Cesar Rodney...

What a remarkable man! What do you know. Hollywood lied. I've always been a fan of the musical 1776. I knew it was based in history. I knew they took some creative license. I didn't know enough to know where they twisted the truth to fit their message. In the movie, Cesar Rodney had gone home because of his cancer, and they had to drag him back to Congress for the vote for independence.

The truth: Yes, Cesar Rodney had cancer in his cheek. That is not why he wasn't in Congress at the time of the presentation of the Declaration of Independence. He was Brigadier General of his province and attending to his military duties. He was, in fact, a very active man and lived life to the full. Instead of the cancer waylaying him, he went about living his life, serving his countrymen and his country without hesitation in spite of it. He was offered a position as a Supreme Court judge but declined it because he preferred his active military duties. Cancer sadly took his life at fifty-three, but it did not slow him down.

Definitely a hero.