The first Winter Soldiers

By Bruce Thompson

Neither the VVAW or the IVAW, discussed yesterday by Kyle-Anne Shiver, are the original Winter Soldiers. That honor goes to those who stood by George Washington through the winter of 1776-77.

There is a very rare book originally published by the Princeton University Press in 1958, This Glorious Cause, The Adventures of 2 Company Officers in Washington's Army, that offers an insight into what it took to be one of those whom Thomas Paine thought "deserve(s) the love and thanks of man and woman".

It has the veracity to inform today's debates. For example, I doubt Michelle Obama read the book when she attended Princeton, though it was published there and includes an account of the Battle of Princeton. Perhaps she and her husband ought to read it now.

I went to the trouble of seeking the book out after reading about it a David McCullough book, 1776. I am delighted to note that one of those two officers, Lt. Joseph Hodgkins, is my second cousin seven generations removed. I feel duty bound to defend the honor of those, such as Lt. Hodgkins, who earned us our freedom at enormous personal cost. They were the first true Winter Soldiers.

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