4th of July

[flo]

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TO ONE AND ALL ! ! ! !     HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TO ONE AND ALL ! ! ! !     HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TO ONE AND ALL ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !   BE SAFE - - - - -BE HAPPY- - - - -REMEMBER TO FLY YOUR AMERICAN FLAG

[Catwoman]

Right back at ya, Flo...And the same to all the Forum members...I look forward to being down there tomorrow night...We'll hope the Rodeo doesn't get rained out! :-)

[sixdogsmom]

C U There! 


Happy 4TH!

[Wilma]

Make it a safe one.

[patyrn]

We're in Howard for the weekend and just returned from the lake after watching the fireworks display.  What an impressive show for such a small town area!!!  All those involved with the training, setup, and actual shooting are to be commended for a job WELL DONE!!!  Thanks!

Happy 4th of July to all!

[sixdogsmom]

I just returned from the rodeo grounds a little while ago. It was a bang-up celebration alright! The rodeo was great, moved along at a good clip. The best part was watching the mutton busting and calf rassling. Those kids had a blast, and I know there are some worn out kids and parents as well. The evening ended with a great fireworks display along with country style patriotic music. A fine end to a perfect Elk County evening. And yes, I spent a little of my fixed income to enjoy this great American spectacle!

[dnalexander]

It has been a long day here in California. Raised the flag by the freeway early this morning. Cooked dinner for 18 people from all over the world and US,  that choose to live here in America, knowing it is the best place on earth. Talked to or received messages for a Happy Fourth of July from Alaska, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Afghanistan, Canada, Oregon, and Southern California. Despite our differences we all gave thanks today for our freedoms that are unparalleled anywhere in the world or history. Good night America, Happy  233 rd. birthday. I am now going to bed before 10 pm to the sounds of fireworks booming in the background. Good night to my fellow Americans in Kansas.

David

[Catwoman]

Got back late last night from Elk County, after getting to see all of my old friends again.    What a wonderful way to spend the 4th!! 

[Teresa]

A woman asked Benjamin Franklin :

"What have you given us?"

He replied: "A Republic madam, if you can keep it."

After 233 years, that quote needs to be steadfast in our minds I hope we can "keep it".

[Teresa]

The 4th of July is officially over.. but since I have been away from  my computer for several days I have hundreds of e-mails I haven't had time to open yet. here is one I got from a young man who is a close personal friend of mine. I have kinda taken him under my wing so to speak ( in a mother kind of way) .
He is home now from being in Afghanistan and also a tour in Iraq.. He lives in Washington and has had some "mental and emotional" problems stemming from being in the war zone and in combat.
He is getting much better.. but the 4th of July brings with it fireworks.. and that brings with it nightmares in the day and the night. 

he sent me this letter.... I'll share it..

I have read several places who state that this 4th of July is that of Gloom. I can't speak against this, for those around me and those who I speak to on breaks at work, feel let down and at an all time low from\by this new government. Many things point out the fact that Americans are scared. The amount of ammo and guns being bought for one. Do people believe that one day soon they may have to defend themselves and loved ones from something so ferocious that a bullet must stop it? Or has the threat of some sort of disaster become so evident that the local supermarket know that now they must carry survival\disaster supplies?

Those that believed they were electing the Messiah are slowly declining. They are seeing the monster that they cast their vote for.  We in the military are seeing it and my friends that are still over there are feeling his constrictions and Anti American ways. But there are still a great many who rally on this campaign.
When will this division create union. When will we realize together we can get done more than standing alone complaining. Still I feel people are afraid to speak out for what they love and what they want. If it is guns you love and carry, then tell your neighbor. Cause it will never make the forefront with us few talking on the range about our passion. If you enjoy your freedom of speech, or your religion then tell your friend that your are going to church and he\she should come with you. We are being labeled as terrorists in a land we created, or should I say our grandparents created. Clinging to Guns and Religion should be celebrated not shunned. Cause if not for those two, I believe we would already be a socialized nation or worse.

I hear these fireworks and it takes me back to what they mimic. Seeing the the red tracers of every three rounds, seeing the hot metal from a blast as sparks fly through the sky, the whistle of a mortar round coming in. These things I can not forget, for I was in their line of fire.  I think of what it must have been like at Valley Forge and what was going through the hearts and minds of those men who decided to fight for what they knew was right.
How long must we sit and watch what we know is wrong?
I do not know, but I will be the first on my block to help regain what is right if that is must come. I hope not. I hope great men will stand up and win with their minds over having to subject civilians to the harshness of war. I want America, I don't want a country like (fill in the blank). I want to be different. I want to be able to go to the same doctor as the president if I should so choose. I want to wear what Kings wears if I feel like it. Or I want to sit with the people whom I love, hearing God's word come from a thousand year old book.

God Bless and Goodnight.  I once said I would miss my president saying this and now I do, more than ever.

Just wanted to add that I am all about having guns for self-defense, and you and I all know that it is the right thing to do. But there are alot of people rushing to buy guns cause they fear what is going to happen on a macro scale in the near future. That is all I mean by having to defend themselves with a bullet. I am a 100% gun guy so don't take that as I am at all looking down at having to defend ones self with a gun. I wish more people were trained and carry firearms. I think crime would go down.
That's all. I just needed to say this.
Kevin.