Observed on the third Monday of April, the people of Maine and Massachusetts are keeping Patriots’ Day today but it is suitably a day to be remembered nationwide.

“The nineteenth of April has been known in this country since the year 1775 as Patriots’ Day. On that date British soldiers sent out from Boston through Lexington to Concord to capture military stores of the Colonists met armed resistance and were driven back with heavy losses. That day meant that the patriots would defend their rights with their lives…

          “…On the day on which this anniversary is observed it is worth while to stop and ponder what self-government means. Lawlessness does not meet its high requirements. It means that when the duly constituted authority of the people has spoken duty requires the citizen to observe and public officers to enforce the law. The result is order, certainty and confidence. If only we could abide by so simple and obvious a truth Patriots’ Day would be fittingly celebrated” — Calvin Coolidge, April 18, 1931