There are the voices of Americans.

I am Dr. Joseph Philippe Eugene Capelle. I was born in Countray, Flanders in 1757.

While I was in my 20s, I came to America as part of a French force led by Count de Rochambeau to help the American colonies win their independence. I was assigned to the staff of the Marquis de Lafayette and served as surgeon to the Marquis and his troops.

I was with the Marquis at the battles of Yorktown when we realized that the colonies would win their fight for freedom.

While most of the French troops returned home, I stayed in America after the war. I was proud to have served in the army that won independence and I had come to love my adopted country as a place where men could be free. I settled in Wilmington, Del., and practiced medicine until my death in 1796. I was always proud of my service in the military of this country.

I am Horace Capelle Pearman, I was born in Upper Montclais, N.J., in 1918. Due to my family’s belief in service, I attended Culver Military Academy and then entered Georgia Technical University.

When World War II began, I left Georgia Tech to join the Navy and was  assigned to a ship in the Pacific Theater. I was recuperating in a hospital when my ship sank with all hands; I was proud to have served with all those men.

After the war, I settled in Seattle, Wash., and lived there until my death in 1984. I was always proud of my service in the military of this country.

I am Robert George Hudson. I was born in Jackson, Mich., in 1923.

My father died when I was in high school, leaving my mother, the only daughter of immigrants, to raise my brother, sister and me. She worked hard, but life during the Depression was difficult. I turned down a college football scholarship in order to graduate early and enlist in the Navy at the age of 17.

I took pride in serving my country and help provide for my siblings by sending money to my mother. I had nearly completed my first tour of duty when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

I served in the Pacific Theater, in battles like the Battles of the Coral Sea and on Guadalcanal. I was proud that I rose through the ranks to become a chief petty officer, the highest enlisted rank.

Thanks to the Navy, I was able to attend college when I retired and earned undergraduate and graduate degrees. I died in 1976, during the bicentennial of the country which I served. I was always proud of my service in the military of this country.

I am Rachel Bryson Hudson. I was born in Seattle, Wash., in 1985 in the same hospital in which my mother and grandmother were born.

I was awarded a Navy ROTC scholarship to Cornell University. After graduation, I was assigned to the USS San Antonio, the first ship of its class, where I served as the combat electronics officer. On our first deployment, we went to the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Gulf, where we supported the troops in Iran and Afghanistan, and later led a task force against pirates.

I am now proud to be serving aboard the USS Enterprise, the world’s first nuclear warship, as a nuclear engineering officer. I am proud of my service in the military of this country.

My name is Jonathan von Rosler Hudson, brother of Rachel Hudson, grandson of Horace Pearman and Robert Hudson, and I am the great, great, great, great grandson of Joseph Capelle. I was born in Alexandria, Va., in 1944 in sight of the George Washington Masonic Memorial.

I grew up listening to stories of my family’s service to our country and visiting our national monuments and learning about the stories behind them. I attended my sister Rachel’s commissioning ceremony and watched with pride as she became an officer in our country’s military.

I hope to serve in our country’s military myself after college. I am proud of my family’s service in the military of this country. I am thankful for all of the veterans who have served our country, and I looked forward with hopeful pride to one day being a veteran of the U.S. military.