Perhaps because of fearful fascination with our own eventual demise, we tend to focus primarily on the cause when learning of another’s death. Was the death natural, accidental, circumstantial or something more untoward? This focus on the final punctuation of a person’s life tends to overshadow the detailed and textured existence that came before. Often, the events that led to the death are reported as an afterthought, as if to provide a cautionary tale to the living. This distillation of the Human experience mainly serves to diminish the subject and their life story.

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Sometimes, the means and manner of death provides an illustration of the person that magnifies and cements their qualities and attributes. In the early morning of April 19, 1775, Captain John Parker, leader of the ‘Lexington Training Band’ rose from his sickbed when informed by “alarm rider” Paul Revere, that British regulars were approaching his town of Lexington. Advanced Tuberculosis made him debilitated and bedridden, yet he mustered the strength to walk two miles to Lexington Green to assemble his militia of 77 Minutemen to stand against the King’s troops near dawn. The British force was 10-fold larger than Parker’s, marching to Concord to capture firearms and ammunition believed stored there by the colonists. When the fighting broke out, eight of Parker's men were killed and ten wounded. Later that same day, Parker rallied his remaining men for what became known as "Parker's Revenge," ambushing the British troops as they retreated from Concord back to Boston, pursued by other local militia, now with greater numbers.

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Captain Parker would serve in the Siege of Boston following the actions at Lexington and Concord. His illness prevented him from participating in the Battle of Bunker Hill (Breeds Hill) that June, and he finally succumbed to it on September 17, 1775, at the age of 46. He did not live to see the Declaration of Independence the following year or the adoption of the U.S. Constitution twelve years to the day after his death. Patriots often do not survive to see the valorous result of their Commitment. Their contribution to the struggle for Freedom and protection of the Natural Rights, pays forward to the benefit of posterity. We honor that sacrifice by remembering these Patriots and continuing the defense of those rights for which they so dearly paid.

 

John Parker was born on July 13, 1729, in Lexington, Massachusetts Bay. He came from a respected Lexington family, with his father Josiah Parker serving in various town positions including Town Clerk, Assessor, and Selectman. Parker married Lydia Moore of Lexington at the age of 26, and together they had seven children.

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Parker was primarily a farmer and mechanic, spending most of his life as a resident of Lexington.

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Prior to his famous role in the American Revolution, Parker gained significant military experience during the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War). He participated in The Siege of Louisbourg in 1758, The Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759, and served as a member of Rogers' Rangers, one of the forerunners of military special forces and their tactics today. Captain Parker inspired the Lexington Minuteman statue, erected in 1900 and was adopted by the U.S. Army Reserve as a symbol of their motto "Twice the Citizen". Parker's stand at Lexington has become a symbol of American resistance to tyranny and is the embodiment of the Second Amendment.

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The attributes of Courage and Leadership demonstrated by Captain Parker are self-evident. The other core attributes exhibited by him over his life were equally essential elements to his character and patriotism. His Devotion to the just and worthy cause of Independence also engendered Loyalty in the men who fought for, and beside, him. Persistence in the face of personal adversity put him in the good company of countless other defenders of Liberty. His was a Strength of character and will. These and other positive attributes provided the scaffolding and energy to fulfill Captain Parker’s life Purpose of supporting the common cause of Liberty.   

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