Happy Independence Day!

The Fourth of July. An important day and one day we should really reflect on our nation.  Enjoy your families, your friends, the fireworks and food. But don’t forget what this day means.

If I had to choose one word to sum up this day I would choose sacrifice. Those who sacrificed everything, their money, their positions in society, their lives, to sign that Declaration should be honored in every way possible. This is not a day to just gaze at fireworks. This is a day to reflect on those who sacrificed everything, including their lives so that we may live in a free land.

Just today over a thousand men and women chose to re-enlist in Iraq, willing to sacrifice everything just as our founding fathers did:

How are you spending your 4th of July holiday? While most Americans probably slept, 1,215 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines raised their right hands and committed to a combined 5,500 years of additional service during the largest reenlistment ceremony in the history of the American military. Beneath a large American flag which dwarfed even the enormous chandelier that Saddam Hussein had built for the Al Faw Palace, members of all services, representing all 50 states took the oath administered by Gen. David Petraeus, Commander of Multi-National Forces Iraq.

Petraeus, reiterating earlier remarks made by Command Sergeant Major Hill, said that the unprecedented ceremony sends a “message to friend and foe alike.” He told those assembled that it is “impossible to calculate the value of what you are giving to our country . . . For no bonus, no matter the size, can adequately compensate you for the contribution each of you makes as a custodian of our nation’s defenses.”

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Each of the reenlistees knows full well the costs of war, and yet, they chose to stand with their units, their mission, and each other. It was as humbling an experience as I have ever witnessed. On this 4th of July, while you celebrate around grills and coolers all across America, keep in mind the 1,215 who allow us that privilege.

Take a look yourself at the sacrifice made. One of those heroes:

I honor and salute the sacrifice of our Founding Fathers, and those who proudly serve this country today.

Those men and women are but one reason why this country is great. Cassandra at Villainous Company put it best:

I love my country not because she is perfect, but because she wants so badly to be.

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America is not a destination but a journey and in loving her, we must not become so firmly fixed upon the goal that we lose heart when we stumble a time or two upon the road. For stumble we will. After all, we are but human; all too imperfect clay with which to form the more perfect union our founding fathers envisioned.

The whole post by Cassandra should be required reading, please check it out.

And with that, I wish you all a Happy 4th of July. While watching those fireworks tonight don’t forget to start that new ritual, recite the preamble of the Constitution.