One of the great ironies.......and tragedies, in a sense.......about Independence Day celebrations in our country is that those who most likely appreciate it the most - those who have put their lives on the line to defend and protect it - are all too often the least likely to enjoy the holiday itself.
Why? Because they're somwhere on duty ---- or the cacophany of explosions so closely resembles combat that they can't bring themselves to come to the fireworks displays.
Dad was like that. We could not set off firecrackers near him...or, at the least, we had to let him know we were doing it so he wouldn't be caught off guard. Older brothers talked about popping firecrackers without telling Dad, and he would hit the ground to take cover - his combat instincts still deeply ingrained many years after World War II ended. More than once that reaction reinjured his back, which he initially hurt behind enemy lines in Germany.
He rarely went to fireworks displays, and as I learned more about what he went through during the war, I must say I couldn't blame him.
Americans take their freedom too much for granted. They take the prosperity and abundance this nation has for granted, too. I've said for years that every American should go overseas at least once in their life, and they would grasp just how fortunate they are in so many ways.
Perhaps it would help us to stop complaining so much about meaningless minutia and focus on real problems that prevent this nation from being what our forefathers imagined when they forged a fledgling union from a rebellious bunch of colonies.
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