Happy 4th of July!
As I reflect on the upcoming July 4th holiday, my thoughts drift back to my time serving in Vietnam as a Marine Aviator. July 4th has always held a special significance for me—not just as a day of celebration and fireworks, but as a powerful reminder of the ideals of freedom and independence that our nation was founded upon. It's a day when we come together as Americans to honor the bravery and sacrifice of those who have fought to defend these principles, both at home and abroad. In this blog post, I want to share quotes I received via email on a message thread that my squadron mates and I have together.
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The Declaration of Independence, Paragraph two reads:
"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, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." (Don’t get mad at me, I didn’t say it. It was those founding fathers).
Here are some quotes to ponder this July 4th
Henry, Patrick - The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.
John F Kennedy - addressing the American Newspaper Publisher’s Association at the Waldorf Astoria, New York on 4-27-61’ “Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it.”
Alan Keyes - When a country loses the will to defend its borders, when a country loses the will to assert its identity, when a country loses the will to stand in defense of its way of life, that country is doomed. (I voted Alan Keyes for Pres. 2008)
Thomas Sowell – When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear. (* Fellow Marines, Thomas Sowell was a Marine in Korea. He’s 94 yrs old and He is America’s greatest mind. Look him up on YouTube).
George Orwell - The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.
2 Thessalonians 2:11 - Because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false.
Mark Twain -It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.
Mark Twain - It’s easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled.
Simon & Garfunkel - song “The Boxer”, “and a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest, la la la la la”).
Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull - song “Thick as a brick”, “I might make you feel but I can’t make you think, you’re as thick as a brick”).
John Jay, First Chief Justice of the Supreme Court said: "… it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers."
Ronald Reagan – ‘If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.’
Patrick Henry – “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ".
Regan, Ronald – “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
Ben Franklin – “If we make ourselves sheep, the wolves will eat us.”
Chuck Berry - Song Well I’m so glad I’m livin’ in the USA… Everything you want we got it right here in the USA. ♪ Chuck recorded that in 1959, (flip side “Memphis”).
That was easier to feel back in 1959 than in America today, in 2024.
In the classic 1956 movie, “The invasion of the Body Snatchers,” the alien invaders could only take over the minds of people when they fell asleep. As the movie ended, Kevin McCarthy was running around trying to warn people. “They’re here already. You’re next. You’re next”.
Well, I hope we all haven’t gone from Todd Beamer’s “Let’s Roll” to “Let’s rollover”. Eat a hot dog, drink a beer, watch the fireworks. Stay awake & alert and don’t rollover..
Happy 4th, Semper Fi
