4th of July
July 12, 2010 by michstorey
Filed under Parish Letters
Dear Parishioners,
The other night as I was trying to fall asleep the sound of fireworks kept exploding outside my window. It reminded me of fireworks on the beach each Fourth of July as I was growing up in Rockaway. My childhood was steeped in patriotic American traditions that filled New York City as we celebrated our Independence as a Nation from England, each Fourth of July.
Another prominent memory that is prompted by the Independence Holiday is when I was an American GI serving our country in the late sixties, early seventies. Viet Nam was not a popular war and American servicemen were not always graciously accepted for who they were: Young Americans defending our Country’s rights and liberties.
Today is a greatly different story as American Corporations honoring our men and women who serve and protect this country and its rights with advertisements honoring our troops. My favorite is the Anheuser Busch add showing our troops parading through an airport to great applause. In my eyes, this is how it should be. Our G.I.’s should be applauded everywhere they go. THANK YOU should be the words that easily roll off our lips for what they are giving up, to undertake and to protect.
On this Fourth, while the hot dog eating record is being contested on the streets of Coney Island, to the Boston Pops playing John Phillip Sousa on the banks of the Charles River, to the National concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, to fireworks exploding over Lady Liberty in the New York Harbor, let us, a grateful nation take great pride in our men and women.
So celebrate this Fourth of July in a special way. If you see a G.I. thank them for what they are doing and risking. Begin your Fourth by saying a prayer for their safety, and in gratitude for the gift they give to each of us, our national freedoms protected by these American Men and Women: they are our children or just maybe, the kid next store.
May God watch over and protect them and bring them home safely to us.
God Bless America, Happy Fourth of July
Fr. Denis, C.Ss.R, USAF
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