{"id":6782,"date":"2026-05-17T22:06:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T22:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/?page_id=6782"},"modified":"2026-05-17T23:14:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T23:14:02","slug":"joseph-plumb-martin-story","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/joseph-plumb-martin-story\/","title":{"rendered":"JOSEPH PLUMB MARTIN&#8217;S STORY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div  class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-parallax has-aspect-ratio\" >\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-media-card has-video\" style=\"background-image:url('https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/13_Jack-Moran-720x480.jpg');\">\n        \n                    <div class=\"responsive_embed\">\n                <div class=\"responsive_embed_inner\">\n                                        <iframe id=\"video_6688\"\n                    width=\"100%\"\n                    allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\n                            frameborder=\"0\"\n                            src=\"https:\/\/player.pbs.org\/partnerplayer\/k-TuyJNROrpd3BXo5lwSFQ==\/?start=0&amp;end=0&amp;topbar=false&amp;autoplay=false&amp;muted=false&amp;endscreen=true\">\n                    <\/iframe>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                \n        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-aspect-ratio has-blue-background-color\" style=\"background-color:#1c2838;\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-gold-color has-text-color\"><strong><strong>A SOLDIER OF THE REVOLUTION<\/strong><\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-gold-color has-text-color\">JOSEPH PLUMB MARTIN<\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background-color:#e1e7ec;\" class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image has-light-gray-background-color\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-background-center-position\" >\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-90 has-pdb-90 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<p>Joseph Plumb Martin, a Connecticut militiaman, fought under General George Washington from the beginning to the end of the American Revolutionary War, like so many whose bravery and commitment made the independence of our nation possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During his time in the First Connecticut Brigade, Martin survived the infamous winter encampment at Valley Forge, saw action at Germantown and the siege of Fort Mifflin, fought at the Battle of Monmouth, and participated in the Siege of Yorktown, where he witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis&#8217;s army. He was just 23 years old when he mustered out at the end of the war.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joseph Plumb Martin\u2019s experience is a window into the hardships and triumphs of the American Revolution, a reminder of the passion for independence that prompted the patriots to endure.<\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col has-image has-background-size-small has-background-center-position\" style=\"background-image:url('https:\/\/staging.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/PyleNationmakersPre1911-cloud-wonder-2-4x-scaled.jpg');\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n\n<p class=\"has-huge-font-size\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-huge-font-size\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-huge-font-size\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-huge-font-size\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-huge-font-size\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-huge-font-size\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-huge-font-size\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-huge-font-size\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-huge-font-size\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-huge-font-size\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-huge-font-size\"><\/p>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div  class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col has-image has-background-size-large has-background-center-position\" style=\"background-image:url('https:\/\/staging.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1263.jpg');\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                                                <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-dark-gold-background-color\" style=\"background-color:#91816d;\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><span class=\"tadv-color\" style=\"color:#ffffff\"><em><em>&#8220;It still seems a miracle to me: how an army of volunteers \u2013 starved, naked, and suffering everything short of death, and thousands even that &#8212; should be able to persevere through eight years of war and win a country. But \u2013 we did.&#8221;<\/em><\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-b727136bc72df833d730e5252419cd22\"><em>-Joseph Plumb Martin<\/em><span class=\"tadv-color\" style=\"color:#ffffff\"><em><em>&nbsp;<\/em><br><\/em><br><\/span><\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background-color:#6D5F4F;\" class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image has-darker-brown-background-color\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-blue-background-color\" style=\"background-color:#1c2838;\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-huge-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/\">Return to 2026 Featured Stories<\/a><\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"parent":6174,"menu_order":90,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6782","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>JOSEPH PLUMB MARTIN&#039;S STORY - National Memorial Day Concert - PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gold Star families forever carry the pain of having lost their loved ones. U.S. Army Sergeant Anthony Oneal Magee from Hattiesburg, Mississippi served two tours of duty in Iraq. Then one day, the phone rang and the Magee family changed forever. Every member of the family suddenly faced a new normal without their son, brother or father and every day became Memorial Day.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/joseph-plumb-martin-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"JOSEPH PLUMB MARTIN&#039;S STORY - National Memorial Day Concert - PBS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gold Star families forever carry the pain of having lost their loved ones. U.S. Army Sergeant Anthony Oneal Magee from Hattiesburg, Mississippi served two tours of duty in Iraq. Then one day, the phone rang and the Magee family changed forever. 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