Posted on 07/04/2026 4:56:09 AM PDT by nathanbedford
DAD, WHAT's UNABHÄNGIGKEITSTAG?
"Is that when the thirteen colonies broke away from England?" My ten year inquired out of nowhere at 6 AM German time this morning. "Yeah, why do you want to know, eat your breakfast," I mumbled, too sleepy to be very curious. "Because I am afraid my teacher will ask me, since I am wearing this T-shirt and I'm the only American in the class." With an effort, I adjusted my gaze upward to his white T-shirt. It was brand new. Prominent on his breast was an image of the flag and below that:
OLD NAVY
FREEDOM 2005 TRADITION
Waking up now, I reflected that if the Old Navy company could so shamelessly trade on the image of the flag, it ought in decency at least amend the line below to:
FREEDOM 2005 COMMERCE
But then I thought, what could be more traditional in America than commercializing the flag?
"Waddayamean, you're the only American in class, what's that got to do with the Fourth of July?" My paternal antennae were also coming to life. I remembered that the kids had sometimes returned from Gymnasium, German high school, and recited seemingly off-hand remarks from professors disparaging America and especially George Bush. Some of the hearsay reports had been pretty rough, describing America as killing Iraqis or causing global warming and the like.
"I think he will call on me to explain the Declaration of Independence to the whole class," masking his apprehension. "So, what will you tell them?"
"That is how we got free of England," he replied, in German. "That's right, as far as it goes. Never mind breakfast, let's get to the computer, it's time to search FreeRepublic." A few minutes later, we had a copy of the declaration printed out, with the font changed to italics for pseudo verisimilitude to the venerable document.
"There are actually a couple of ideas in here that are more important than announcing our break with England," I said, highlighting with a yellow marker this passage:
that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights
And this passage too:
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed
"This means that who you are, what rights you have, come directly from God and not from the government. In fact, the government is there to serve you, as a child of God, not the other way around, and when the government takes away your rights, the government is not legitimate, and you can change it."
"What's legitimate?" Ah, " berechtigt," I answered. I must have gotten it right for he seemed satisfied with the translation and his Deutsch is better than mine. Handing him the printout, I said, "Take this with you, read it on the bus, and when you get to class, you tell them these ideas are America's gift to the world. A lot of people in Europe think your rights come from the government, not the other way around. No one had ever done this 'for real' before. Look what it says here, just before where they signed it, it means they knew they were risking their lives:
"
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor
"OK, Dad, see ya."
An hour later, his mother asked me, "Did you give him a printout of the Declaration of Independence?" "Yup," I proudly responded.
She laughed, "He said, 'Dad really expects me to read this on the school bus'"
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For us, living as we do here in Germany, it is our way of holding fast to our America. Every year we keep the tradition and then await the reactions of FReepers which have been consistently gratifying and even heartwarming.
So the tradition goes on well into its second decade as the imperative to cling to the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The 10-year-old boy in the anecdote exchanged his T-shirt for a tie and a real suit years ago when we all went proudly off to his German high school graduation, his Abschluss from Gymnasium. Our parental expectations had been, to paraphrase John Kennedy, to send him into the world and onto college equipped with the best of both worlds, a German education and an American birthright, bequeathed to him by the founders in the Declaration of Independence. Some years ago, he graduated from University.
He has a piece of paper, written out in German, certifying his accomplishment of the course of study laid out in an elite German high school. There is a piece of parchment reposing in the Library of Congress drafted by Thomas Jefferson but written in blood at Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Belleau Wood, Iwo Jima, Chosin Reservoir, Tet, the Persian Gulf, and Afghanistan.
Both belong to him.... If he can keep them.
+++
In German independent suspension is unabhängig aufhangung.
Wie vielen deutschen Kindern wird etwas über die ehemaligen deutschen Kolonien vermittelt?
Both sides of my family were here before there was a United States. And they worked and fought to first establish it and then preserve it. You go right on reminding us of our founding principles.
CC
Was den Holocaust betrifft: Die Aufklärung über den Holocaust gehört in Deutschland zu den umfassendsten und systematischsten der Welt.
Now if only we could count on TEACHERS to carry out the tradition of reading, & explaining truthfully, the Declaration, we might be able to save this country.
“Was den Holocaust betrifft: Die Aufklärung über den Holocaust gehört in Deutschland zu den umfassendsten und systematischsten der Welt.”
Du bewahrst die Erinnerung an die Vergangenheit besser als die Japaner.
CC
Bitte.
CC
It’s a beautiful anecdote to share.
It’s an homage everyone can enjoy.
Thank you, and happy July 4th, sir!! You are loved here and by your family!
Mit dem Erlaubnis der Amerikannern.
(Die Japaner könnten ihr Volk nichts über die Verwaltung von Nanking belehren wenn sie auch nichts über die Vernichtung von der japanischen Städten von amerikanischen Brandbomben belehren.)
Thanks for sharing. I hope to see it again next year.
When, from time to time, I come across your posts, I sometimes wonder whether or not there are more than two Freepers besides you and me that even know WHO Nathan Bedford Forrest was. To me and SOME Union Generals and assorted experts, he was hands down the finest, bravest and best FIGHTING GENERAL America ever produced. I think I’ve read 3 or 4 of his approximately 5 books.
Die Atombomben sind das Einzige, was Japan als Nation gerettet hat. Wären sie nicht eingesetzt worden, wären eine Million alliierte Soldaten und mehrere Millionen Japaner ums Leben gekommen.
Das Thema von den Atombomben ist nur eine Ablenkung. (Im Kampf gegen die japanische Städte haben sie nur eine Nebelrolle gespielt.)
Das größere amerikanische Kriegsverbrechen war dass, wir auf die japanische Zentren der Wohnbevölkerung gezielt haben. (Unsere Brandbomben haben mehr Leute getötet als die zwei Atombomben.)
Thanks for this inspiring story, on the 4th of July.
Can i ask, what happened at school that day?
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