There's a special feeling I get when I stand on the hallowed ground of Gettysburg or in the room at Independence Hall in Philadelphia where the U.S. Constitution was conceived. It's a feeling of pride and admiration for those before me who sacrificed so much and had the courage and foresight to fight, and not just on the battlefield, for what few nations had ever attempted before. Many have called it a Grand Experiment. In the late 18th Century it was. In no other country on Earth could one find a representative government that gave its people freedom to criticize that very government, worship as they wished, and pursue the life they chose, without government interference.

Residents of Central Pennsylvania don't have to travel far to find history. For me, there's a very special place just a few miles from my home. Donegal Presbyterian Church is located near Mount Joy in Lancaster County. It was founded in 1721 by Scots/Irish settlers and is rich in history. There is a marker a few feet from the church entrance that always makes my heart swell with patriotism.

The first lines read, "Beneath this witness tree - a newborn patriotism found notable expression. On a Sunday morning in September 1777, an express rider came to tell the congregation of Donegal Church that the British Army under Lord Howe had left New York to invade Pennsylvania."

When standing at that spot, I always try to imagine what that scene was like more than 200 years ago. The ancestors of many of my neighbors probably had a sense of fear, but according to the church history, the news also strengthened their resolve for freedom and independence. They formed a militia to defend their homes and farms from the advancing British.

The Redcoats never did march to the area around the Donegal Church. They sailed up the Chesapeake Bay and landed at the Elk River in northern Maryland. As the British troops headed north into Pennsylvania, the Continental Army didn't know whether their target was Lancaster or Philadelphia. It turned out to be Philadelphia and the two armies met at the Battle of Brandywine in southern Chester County on September 11, 1777. Brandywine was the largest battle of the American Revolution. It also was one the Continental Army lost and led to the fall of the young nation's largest city - Philadelphia.

The "witness tree" mentioned on the Donegal plaque was a huge oak that was a gathering place for church members in 1777 and stood until 1991, when it finally succumbed to disease. The tree stump is still there. Running my hand along the top of the stump makes me feel closer to those who touched the same tree with dreams of freedom in their minds so long ago.

The cemetery at Donegal Presbyterian Church also has a profound effect on me. I often walk silently among tombstones that date to the early 1700s. A few of the people buried there probably stood under the Witness Tree that September morning and heard the British weren't far away. The final resting places of those who fought in the Revolution are marked with 13-star American flags.

I encourage everyone to take a few minutes away from their Fourth of July picnics and fireworks displays to think back, as I will, about the great nation we live in. Don't do it because this country is perfect, because it's not, and don't forget those dark moments in history that also shaped what we are today. But honor those people who gave so much and were so ahead of their times that we have the freedom to pour out our thoughts on paper or on a computer about what makes us patriotic.