July 6

"Saturday in the park, I think it was the 4th of July" as the great "Chicago" pop hit from 1972 is ringing in my ears today. Saturday in my hometown on the 4th of July. I am glad to celebrate my country's 233 birthday in the place I love the most. The 4th of July is really celebrated in towns and cities across America with fireworks, parades, community cookouts, and just great fellowship. I got to be the grand marshall of the Marietta parade a few years ago. Riding the the WSB "Salute To America" parade on my "Betsy Ross" Harley-Davidson Road King a couple of years back is a great memory. My Harley is painted in a red, white, and blue color scheme that looks like an unfurling American Flag. It just kind is a reminder of just how lucky I am.

The 4th of July is a great time for us to grill hot dogs and burgers, watch the parade, go to the corn-boiling, marvel at the fireworks, and reflect on how we got to do all of this celebrating. 233 years ago in Philadelphia some men of fortitude signed a document that is perhaps the most significant piece of parchment ever recorded. I am trying to think of how many counties off the top of my head I can think of were named in honor of some of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Georgians that signed the Declaration of Independence include Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton. All have counties named for them. A fellow named Hart from New Jersey and Charles Carroll from Maryland also put their names on the list. We have Hart County up I-85 on the South Carolina border. Thomas Jefferson from Virginia signed it and our state has a Jefferson County in South Georgia. Carroll County was named for the oldest surviving person to sign the Declaration of Independence. Pondering the courage those men had to thumb their collective noses at King George of England. They would all have been hung for the act of wanting to be free of English rule. The English finally got the message after the American Revolution and a couple of decades later with the War of 1812. In spite of our many disagreements on politics, legislation, laws, and social issues, we have more common ground than we think. We as Americans are able to celebrate freely today because of people who wore a uniform from Bunker Hill to Baghdad. We are able to toast our nation today because people who served our country in the U.S. Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Merchant Marines and the United States Marine Corps. I think of people from our town that I admire because they did something far more courageous than anything I have ever done.A classmate who recently passed Lane Williams was a Marine and served in Vietnam. ; ;Ronnie Smith has seen Vietnam. A man I consider more than a friend, I consider him a patriot, Sammy Robinson also went to Vietnam. Tommy Allen served in the U.S. Army Infantry and got to see the jungles of Southeast Asia at a places called Ben Hoa and Cam Ranh Bay. Randy Bentley that I have known since I was 7 years old went to Vietnam. Another classmate Jerome Lowe gave the ultimate sacrifice there. Former classmate Sam Farmer serves in the Air Force Reserve and has lived in the heat of Baghdad more than once. Another Tallapoosan Ray McClendon served in the U.S.M.C. and was at sea when the nightmare of September 11, 2001 occurred. He got to visit the Mideast during his watch. These are just a few of the names that I know and come to mind. Our town has many others who have served and help us be able to celebrate this day. I rode my Harley up Highway 78 last weekend and was moved by the sight of the crosses with the American Flags. I saw that many people from our town paid with their lives and how my greatest regret in my life is never having served in the military. The 4th of July should remind us that indeed freedom isn't free. Some people paid a price starting in 1776 and there are people paying a price now in Afghanistan and Iraq. I filled in on the Moby in the Morning radio program a little over a week ago and suggested to his audience that we should go up to as many people in a military uniform and say "thank you". It is perhaps a small gesture that I bet would mean so much to someone who has served this greatest nation in world history, the United States of America. Happy 233rd birthday America. We are blessed to have been born here.