DISCLAIMER: The Patriot belongs to whomever it belongs to (I think Fox Studios)

DISCLAIMER: The Patriot belongs to whomever it belongs to (I think Fox Studios).  What a kick @$$ movie!  Been a while since I've seen it, so please forgive me.

Martin's Epiphany – What changed Benjamin Martin's mind after Gabriel is killed?  In the spirit of Shakespeare (and Hamlet, whom Mel Gibson played), Martin does some soul searching…

Harry Burwell left the tent, and his loud voice bellowed to the rest of the militia army.  "Mount UP!"  Martin leaned over his son's body as the militiamen had camp disassembled and were ready to move out.  "FORWARD, MARCH!"  And off they went.  Within a half-hour, there were no sounds from outside the tent.  Martin then thought out loud. "The demons of my past seem to have resurfaced in this damn war.  Why?  WHY did I have to do that so many years ago?  In my perpetual youth, I felt the need to be a hero.  Well, now I'm a hero of war's past.  And I stare at my son…who…inherited that same foolishness from his father…" He then began to weep.  He regained his composure

"Now it seems time has taken its payment for my own sins.  My fortune I have spent years building up?  Two of my sons?  MY WIFE?  What more payment do you WANT of me?"  He stopped for a second to realize that he was arguing with nothing.  He began to tear apart what little was in the tent to vent his built up anger.  He accidentally tore the bag off Gabriel's body.  Out spilled the flag that Gabriel had been working on for many weeks.  Martin stopped in surprise, and picked up the flag.  He ran his fingers over the flag, like it was a hand-stitched quilt from his old plantation house.  It had blood on it from when Gabriel first found those tattered scraps of that American flag.

"The cause."  He muttered.  He cocked his head to the side and continued to examine the flag.  "The cause," he said a little louder.  "My son, I thought you have died in vain.  But if we win this war, we shall become legends.  No, your sacrifice was not in vain.  Someday, they shall speak upon us as gods, despite that we all suffered heavily in this war."  A single tear rolled down Martin's face, as he took Gabriel's body to a quite spot under the trees.  After burying Gabriel's body, he took the flag and found an abandoned tent pole.  He quickly attached the flag to the pole, and mounted his trusty steed.

"Thank you my son.  You have helped me see a higher purpose in your death.  Now, it shall be avenged, and your death, along with others who have been slain for the cause, will not have been in vain.  You died for others, in the future.  Future Americans…" Martin pulled out his tomahawk (the closest thing he had to a sword), and touched it to the boot.  Since they days of mounted commanders, this was the highest salute possible from a higher officer.  Martin put the tomahawk back in its proper place, and then rode off at full gallop to catch up with the rest of the militia.  He knew General Greene and Henry Burwell were gonna need all the support they could muster against Lord Charles Cornwallis.