the site of this historic victory is now named gaspee point. in honor of this incident and the audacious rhode islanders who accomplished it. according to bunker, the rhode island patriots successfully organized a military operation three years ahead of its time that arose not merely from a private quarrel but a matrix of ideas. the ideas of liberty. rhode islanders have made it a tradition of celebrating the incident and this year marks the 50th annual gaspee day celebration. we march in the annual parade as we recall the courage of the men who fired the first shot and through the first blood -- and drew the first blood. i like to thank the committee for their continuing efforts in hosting this annual celebration. and to my friend for his work each year in making this event so special. as proud as i am what those brave rhode islanders did i'm also disappointed their story needed -- their story had been large -- their story had been lost to history. as mr. harrington wrote, through the ages noble rhode islanders named their daughters hannah in

ultimately the flames reached the gaspee's powder. and the resulting blast echoed across the bay as airborne fragments of the gaspee splashed down beneath a moonless sky. nick bunker wrote "the british have never seen anything quite like the gaspee affair." their attack on the ship amounted to a complete rejection of the empire's right to rule . according to dan harrington's op-ed, "king george iii was furious and offered huge rewards. inquiries were made and nooses were fashioned. but in the end not one name was produced as thousands of rhode islanders remained true to silence." the site of this historic victory is now named gaspee point. in honor of this incident and the audacious rhode islanders who accomplished it. according to bunker, the rhode island patriots successfully organized "a military operation three years ahead of its time that arose not merely from a private quarrel but a matrix of ideas. -- ideas." the ideas, madam president, a liberty. rhode islanders have made it a tradition of celebrating the incident and this yea

annual gaspee days celebration in warwick.g in the annual parade as we recall the courage of the men who fired the first shots and drew the first blood in the quest for american independence. i would like to thank the gaspee days committee for their continuing efforts to host this annual celebration and to my friend state representative joe mcnamara for his work each year in making this event so special. i come to the floor every year at this time to speak about the burning of the gaspee because as proud as i am of what those brave rhode islanders did back in 1772, i'm also disappointed that their story has largely been lost to history outside our little state. i hope these speeches will help new generations to learn about this important american event. in rhode island, of course, we will never forget. as mr. harrington wrote in his piece in "the providence journal," through the ages, noble rhode islanders have named their daughters hannah in honor of the ship that long ago led a fledgling young country toward independence and