Some Musing About The Fourth Of July

I was a young boy, in grammar school, during World War Two. That was the last war where most of the country pulled together to win. Korea was a "police action", so that does not qualify. Of course, those that lost family there, may disagree. Since World War Two wars have belonged to some President and his supporters. The opposition party and their supporters were dead set against it. The independents were torn. Viet Nam was LBJ's war even though it started under Kennedy. Kuwait belonged to Bush I. Iraq belonged to Bush II. The war on an aspirin factory belonged to Clinton. 

During WWII people were tremendously proud of their country. Those that didn't go into the military themselves worked at those jobs needed to support the war effort. Women who had never worked outside their own homes went into factories and did hard manual labor that, until then, had been the province of men. People bought war bonds. School kids bought war stamps with their nickels and dimes to trade for war bonds when they accumulated enough. Citizens did without so there would be enough for the military. People would line the streets for parades. They would stand and cheer when the American Flag passed by them. Those on furlough from the military were treated as heroes.

As everyone knows, the official name for the Fourth of July, is Independence Day. We take the day to celebrate the bravery and wisdom of our founding fathers in wresting the country from George III. There are some that object to taking this great and important holiday and calling it by it's generic name. I am not on of them. Over the decades the Fourth of July has accumulated many additional things to celebrate along with our independence. Victory in the War of 1812, reuniting the nation after a terrible Civil War, two World Wars, and the way the country pulled together after 9/11 and the Boston bombing are but a few examples. No red blooded American will ever mistake the Fourth of July as just another date on the calender.

The Fourth of July has become the symbol for the accumulated greatness shown by our country in less than two and a half centuries of existence. We have nay sayers now, those that would walk on the flag and tear our country down. They cannot bring themselves to see what the world would be like without the United States of America. I can assure you it would be a far different and very dismal place. These pseudo-intellectuals speak of moral equivalence and support an ill founded idea that all nations are equal. If that is so, why do so many that live in the hell-holes of the world risk all that they have, including their very lives, to live in the United States.

All nations have July 4th as a calender date. But only the United States of America has "the Fourth of July". God bless America and all that reside here. 


Have a great "Fourth of July" everyone.