The Fourth of July

As a child the Fourth was all parades, eating ice cream from a small cardboard container with a small wooden spoon, and waving a flag on a stick – a flag with two brand spanking new stars for Alaska and Hawaii (or Hawaii and Alaska depending on your side in that debate). Then as dark settled as blanket was spread at the park and we watched the fireworks. It was a great kid kind of day but really meant nothing to me.

As time went on and history and civics classes were taken the Fourth became the day America was born and one of the most significant documents since the Magna Carta was thrust upon yet another British monarch. The document not only declared American independence, but put down in writing that humans were granted certain inalienable rights by the creator himself. It set the gold standard for freedom for not just Americans but for all humans.

This freedom can’t be freely given away or forced upon others, however. If just handed out it isn’t appreciated, if forced it isn’t accepted. This is one thing that must be earned and therein lies the most important lesson learned and it took joining the military to do it. The Declaration of Independence is just a scrap of paper, the flag a piece of cloth. It is the blood, suffering, and lives freely given by men and women to advance and protect those principals laid down by the Declaration and keep that starry banner flying. There is a price to be paid to keep those who oppose the rights of man, this innate freedom, from taking it away or keeping it from others.

The bottom line is that the Fourth isn’t about parades and fireworks, it is a celebration of human freedom and the sacrifices of those who have and who continue to give life and limb to ensure it endures. It isn’t about politics or political parties, but something more significant – the ownership of our personal lives.