While we're enjoying our Fourth of July, our troops are facing danger around the world in Afghanistan and other hot spots.
The troops are there to do a job we've asked them to do. A difficult and dangerous job that doesn't always allow for time for celebrations.
While we're enjoying time off, we should also think about the freedom we enjoy. Freedom purchased with the blood of patriots.
The United States of America celebrates its 235th birthday on Monday. That July 4, 1776, was a day when free men defied a king and signed a document that declared that all are created equal, that people are endowed with certain inalienable rights. That being a person meant you had the right to your life, your liberty and your happiness.
It doesn't say so in the Declaration of Independence, but the very fact that men were willing to put their names on it, declaring the independence of a new nation, indicated that those rights came with responsibilities.
Freedom isn't something that comes from the ground fully formed. You can't dip your cup in a free flowing stream of freedom and drink. Freedom is something that must be defended. While we're enjoying our Fourth our fellow Americans are fighting for our freedoms, as they have for the last 235 years.
So remember the troops this holiday weekend, and if you meet a servicemember or veteran, remember to thank that person for your freedom.