What does Independence Day (July 4th) in the United States mean to you?

Are you a passionate patriot, extremely patriotic, or are you just happy to have the time off of work? Weigh in and tell me what you think about the USA's most sacred of holidays.

BTW...Way to go USA soccer team!

asked Jun 22 '10 at 23:14

SMGBobbyScott
991●20●46●49

edited Jun 23 '10 at 20:07

Check your PUGS: It is July 4th, not 4rh and other things

(Jun 23 '10 at 00:53) kevin ♦♦

Thanks for the heads up...

(Jun 23 '10 at 10:58) SMGBobbyScott

4 Answers:

oldest newest most voted

As a former member of the armed services, I BLEED RED, WHITE, & BLUE!!! I am a passionate patriot who gets all goose pimply when I hear the star spangled banner! I go USA! USA! USA! during the Olympics. I still hold a slight grudge with those countries that we have fought wars (including those Yankees up North...LOL).

GO USA SOCCER TEAM!

answered Jun 22 '10 at 23:21

SMGBobbyScott
991●20●46●49

edited Jun 25 '10 at 20:54

well...i guess we did pwn those British.

(Jun 22 '10 at 23:22) SJP

When I was enlisted and not on duty... Every Friday I would change into my dress blues and go to the base flag and render the proper courtesies for Retreat. Even though my bases never performed the ceremonies; at least they played the music and did the flag thing.

People gave me some funny looks, but I didn't let that stop me.

(Jun 23 '10 at 00:48) tsilb

You should have been disciplined if anyone had noticed the pattern...they probably thought you were drunk, or hoped you were.

(Jun 23 '10 at 08:28) SMGBobbyScott

@SMG: Dude, what?

(Jun 23 '10 at 20:25) tsilb

I may have misunderstood what you were saying, BUT if you were just properly retiring the flag for the week, then fine. Although it really should have been approved by the command. However, if you were doing it as a mockery or if you were treating like a Retreat, then you should have been disciplined. I find it hard to believe at a military base that either no one picked up on what you were doing or that no one else seemed to care enough to participate, help, or otherwise.

(Jun 23 '10 at 20:44) SMGBobbyScott

I'm not a "patriot" or at least, I don't identify with some of the things that words been associated with recently. I am "proud to be an American," but that pride is tempered with the knowledge we have many faults, collectively and as individuals (all nations/groups of people do.) Mostly, I just count my blessings for being born where and when I was born... so many people don't have those luxuries, and through no fault of their own, their lives are far worse for it.

U.S. Independence Day is first and foremost a day to celebrate the freedoms we have and everyone (past, present & future) who have sacrificed to make (and keep) those freedoms a reality, most notably our U.S. armed forces and our allies. It's a day to give extra thanks to the men and women I know who are in uniform, their families, and those who are no longer in active duty but once served.

As for how I celebrate, it's low-key like most of our other holidays. We gather with family and enjoy good food and good company. I love fireworks, but we usually don't even attend a fireworks show, choosing instead to enjoy the bit of a professional fireworks display we can see over the treetops from our backyard and the occasional not-officially-legal privately launched fireworks from neighboring houses.

Notable songs I always make it a point to listen to around this time of year to remember the true cost of independence:

"The Wall" sung by John McDermott (Irish tenor)
"The Green Fields of France" sung by John McDermott
"And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" sung by John McDermott
"Christmas in the Trenches" sung by John McDermott

(others perform these songs, of course; I'm just a big fan of Irish tenors, especially McDermott.)

answered Jun 22 '10 at 23:31

ageekmom ♦
8.2k●41●147●320

edited Jun 22 '10 at 23:46

You sound patriotic to me...for what it is worth.

(Jun 22 '10 at 23:36) SMGBobbyScott

Patriotic, yes, but a patriot, no. I guess it's semantics, and since it's late I'm not sure I can articulate how/why I differentiate the two. I've never served my country in the military.

(Jun 22 '10 at 23:42) ageekmom ♦

Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin never served in the military but I would dare say that they are thought by many to be the epitome of American Patriots. In the immortal words of Ben himself "We shall all hang together or we will all hang separately." LOL!

(Jun 23 '10 at 08:24) SMGBobbyScott

1	meehh....im mean its the day we declared independence. but after that i dont think that much of it. i like christmas better :) answered Jun 22 '10 at 23:17 SJP 4.6k●75●109●167

1	It means that it's time to watch or do some fireworks! w00t! answered Jun 22 '10 at 23:37 TechJohnson 1.7k●10●21●43

Your answer

toggle preview

community wiki

Follow this question

By Email:

Once you sign in you will be able to subscribe for any updates here

By RSS:

Answers

Answers and Comments

Markdown Basics

*italic* or __italic__
**bold** or __bold__
link:[text](http://url.com/ "title")
image?![alt text](/path/img.jpg "title")
numbered list: 1. Foo 2. Bar
to add a line break simply add two spaces to where you would like the new line to be.
basic HTML tags are also supported

learn more about Markdown

Become a Gnomie!

Join Us in the Chat Room

Tags:

usa ×58
holiday ×21
independence ×6
united-states ×4
declaration ×1