"My country tis of thee,.."

"Sweet land of liberty, to thee I sing! Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgram's pride, from every mountainside let freedom ring!"


As I stood on a rock in my backyard last night, my eyes glued to the bright lights of the local fireworks, everything seemed right. My dad, who was standing next to me, put his arm around my shoulder and gave me a hug as we cherished the moment together. All of our guests were standing around watching with us, but they all seemed to fade away as I sunk deep into thought.

My mind drifted back to about a month ago when my family and I were vacationing on the east coast. All the sights and sounds flooded back as my memories became a somewhat current reality. I could see us walking around about a hundred places at once! The White House, the Washington and Lincoln memorials, the Arlington cemetary, the Vietnam wall, the World War II memorial, Boston Harbor, Lexington, Concord, Gettysburg, and so on.

I saw all the stories of individule soldiers from each war come to life: the Revolutionary war, the Civil war, World War I & II, Vietnam, and all the men fighting overseas for us now. Suddenly I was snapped back to real time with the boom of a consussion bomb.. Or was it a cannon? As I looked back up at where the fireworks had been alighting before, I saw something *much* different...

Instead of beautiful bursts of color, I saw guns going off in all directions: In front of me, behind me, on both sides, and even above me. I heard what before had been the screams of delight in the show but where now cries of pain and anguish. There were explosions all around, blood flying through the air, and a heavy cloud of sulfur hanging close to the ground.

The fear was apparent: Men cringed as sparks flew through the air, children ran to their mothers in hope of comfort that was scarce to be given, and animals ran for their lives but were unable to escape the fire which they were surrounded by.

But just when things seemed at their worst, a small shred of hope arose. The smoke lifted just enough for all to look up, and there it was! The most glorious site any man could hope for at such a time: The strong Red, White, and Blue, our Nation's Flag, was still standing erect and looked as bright and glorious as ever! The enemy hadn't gained victory yet, and all were determined that they never would. Then, as the soldiers said a quiet prayer, they all stood and charged the enemy with more firepower than could be concieved, and with a cry, the grand finale flew into the sky with more cheering and color than ever before! I stood there with friends around and my dad holding me close and said my own quiet prayer, thanking God for the victory of my country and all the blessings we had because of those men that gave thier lives.

Thank you, all the soldiers that fought for the UsA, and may God Bless America!



"My father's God to thee, author of Liberty, to thee I sing! Long may our land be bright with freedoms holy light, protect us by thy might Great God our King!"