D-Day (June 6) slipped by quietly this year. After all it is the 76th anniversary – the year after the Big Year. Like being a sophomore in college. Ho-hum.
I am kidding of course - we are occupied otherwise these days. The 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) day (May 8) slipped by too. And, I suspect so will the 75th anniversary of Victory in Japan (VJ) day (August 14). Sandwiched between the victories is the 4th. Not a victory - a declaration, but really a birthday.
July 4th will not slip by - I suspect this 4th will be special. This is a special year. Pandemic and protests. We will celebrate our right to protest and what could be more patriotic? After all wasn’t the declaration a protest?
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…
We should look to the remaining World War II survivors for a lesson. The June cover story on National Geographic magazine is “The Last Voices of World War II.” 75 years after VE and VJ, survivors (soldiers and civilians from all over the globe) tell their stories.
Harry T. Stewart, Jr. will turn 96 on July 4th. Born in Alabama the grandson of a slave, he is one of 10 remaining Tuskegee Airmen. On Easter Sunday in 1945, he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross after shooting down 3 enemy aircraft in a dogfight above Austria. He and two fellow Tuskegee pilots won the inaugural “top gun” competition in 1949. But, commercial airlines were unwilling to hire him in peacetime. So, he earned a mechanical engineering degree and retired a Vice President of a natural gas pipeline company.
What is his hope for the Tuskegee Airmen’s legacy?
“I just want them to be remembered as good citizens – good Americans who felt duty-bound to join in protecting their country during a time of need, even in the face of discrimination.”
We are all duty-bound in our time of need. Duty-bound to pursue unalienable rights.
How about you? What will you do on the 4th? Share a Story!
Taste the Food - Second Helping:
The Last Voices of World War II – National Geographic
Declaration of Independence – National Archives
