USO Canteen FReeper Style....Happy 4th of July !!!!

Coteblanche and Snow Bunny

[Snow Bunny]

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Come Fly With Us
On A Patriotic Journey

God Bless America

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Graphic by Paul Atreides

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The Good Guys Wear White Hats

Hail to the Chiefs

Memories

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The Declaration of Independence by Trumbull

The First Couple

The Gettysburg Address

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What GeorgeW loves to call
The People's House

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An Attorney-General to be proud of...

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<,p>.

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A little Sousa anyone?

Liberty Bell.....Semper Fidelis.....Stars and Stripes

Washington Post.....King Cotton.....El Capitan

.....Crusader.....Our Flirtations ;-).....The Presidential Polonaise.....

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Patriotic Medley

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For an 1812 Overture accompaniment, click here.

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Good Night

God Bless

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Turn out the lights

The party's over

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Return to top of page

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~ A Message from Snow Bunny ~

4 July is not just a day to party, cook out,
go to the beach, or recreate in a myriad of ways.

4 July has a much more profound meaning.

4 July is all about: Belleau Woods,
Inchon, Khe Sahn, Guadalcanal, Kuwait,
Tarawa, Chosin Reservoir, Grenada,
Bougainville, Hue City, Panama, Iwo Jima,
Somalia, Beirut, Peleilu, and many
other places where the price of freedom came due.

4 July is a day of celebration in our nation
precisely because of what so many unsung
heroes were willing to do
in order to make it so.

4 July comes and goes every year,
overshadowed often by summer vacations
and busy schedules.

4 July, however, brings to the forefront
in many hearts, the knowledge of what America might be
if not for the courage, sacrifice,
and dedication of the finest of her sons and daughters.

4 July is a day for every Veteran,
and those serving, to receive the recognition
that should come from a people,
who owe the precious gift of freedom to these gallant warriors
and servants of our Constitution..

4 July is a day in which we,
the "protected," stand and salute you.
Your efforts often go unrewarded and unrecognized
in a manner befitting you.

4 July is a day for at least myself
and you wonderful Freepers, to attempt
to honor these men and women properly
and to say, "Thank You."

What you have done, and continue to do
every day, makes it possible
for my family and I
to celebrate on 4 July,
and to live in "The Land Of The Free."

We can never repay you sufficiently for this privilege.

May God bless each of you!

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

[Pippin]

Good Morning,Tom! Happy 4th to you too!

[Pippin]

Good Morning, Souris! I forgot to put you on my ping list,Darn! You have a happy 4th of July!

:o)

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

I knew this was going to be a fantastic thread today! This one and A Few of FR's Finest are truly spectacular!

Thanks to all who have put in the special effort to make these threads so memorable!

I love the Reagan quote: Republicans think every day is July4th and Democrats think every day is April 15th! Ain't it the truth! Thank you for posting that SAMWolf! Ain't it the truth!

And for every graphic, every effort, every verse, every song, every gift you all and others have given - THANK YOU!

And to our beloved ones serving America today - wherever you are - thank you! You are in our hearts, our thoughts, and our prayers every day - but especially - this July 4th!

[HiTech RedNeck]

I'll be on radio watch at the Coast Guard Base today.

Thank you for keeping watch, Yatch (an eye rhyme :-)

Jim -- here's a request for a new feature "someday." I often see one of these bumps to a Canteen (or another picture laden thread) in self search and hit the link. My browser (IE5) then jumps up and down in the thread as the graphics load, and when this activity ends I end up in a place that is usually far from the place from where I was bumped. Would there be some way to adjust the HTML so that it doesn't do that (like to preallocate the size based on the size of the graphic, at least according to what the size was at time of posting). Thanks for all your good work and happy July 4.

[Aquamarine]

Happy Independence Day!

Click on the pic

[FryingPan101]

Thanks so much, Bunny. Happy 4th to you and yours from my Vietnam Vet husband and me.

[ValerieUSA]

God Bless the USA

Savannah, Georgia

[Valin]

Believing they had found America's soft underbelly, our Achilles heel, the terrorists thought they could break our spirit, weaken us, wilt us from within, and ultimately defeat us. Their evil acts instead have only united us, strengthened us -- reinvigorated that indomitable spirit that makes us uniquely American.

The true story is, junior officers and noncoms who had been college students two years before and had ROTC commissions pinned down at that sea wall and couldn't retreat, couldn't go back -- it was just chaos back behind them -- couldn't, as the plan called for, go up the draws. They were getting butchered where they were all the sea wall because the Germans had it all zeroed in with their mortars that were coming down on top of them. And, "Over here, Captain," "Over here, Lieutenant, over here." A sergeant looked at this situation and said, "The hell with this. If I'm going to get killed, I'm going to take some Germans with me." And he would call out, "Follow me," and up he would start. Hitler didn't believe this was ever possible. Hitler was certain that the soft, effeminate children of democracy could never become soldiers. Hitler was certain that the Nazi youth would always outfight the Boy Scouts, and Hitler was wrong.
Stephen Ambrose.

Failure was not an option then and it's not no now.

And while we're celebrating the folks out there on firingline protecting us in this war. Lets take just a minute to think about some other folks who are doing a vital job. They're sitting in there cubicles with there pocketprotectors in places like the Commerce, and the State Dept, CIA in front of computers connecting the dots, following the money trail. Trying their damnedest to make sure that the next time osama writes a check it come bake marked insufficient funds and followed up with a 1,000lb jdam.

Happy Birthday to us! The last best hope.

[Ligeia]

England and the U.S., together again - flag-wise

Ray Ricketts displays the Grand Union
flag, also called the Cambridge or
Continental flag, at his Henrico
County house. He believes the flag is
at least 100 years old.

Yes, the United States and England are allies.

But did Ray Ricketts really need to combine their flags for the Fourth of July?

While everyone else will be displaying the Stars and Stripes today, the World War II veteran will be putting up . . . Continue

[SpookBrat]

<----------click on the hero (this is an mp3 and may take a second but it's worth it).

****Waving hello**** to all our military out there. We're thinking of you today. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

[SpookBrat]

Oops. Forgot to ping you on #115. (((((hugs)))))

[COB1]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!

And a Happy Fourth of July to all of you, my friends!

Here is my last installment of the video, Independence Day 2002. I hope you enjoy it:

INDEPENDENCE DAY 2002 PART III
(Loading time will be about one and a half hours on a 28.8 connection)

[MeekOneGOP]

Florida Man Free To Fly Flag -
Judge Removes Restrictions On Flags http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/710356/posts

JUPITER, Fla. -- He's paid a high price for his patriotism, but a Jupiter man won his three-year battle Tuesday to fly the American flag.

After thousands of dollars in fines, dozens of public protests and a lien on his home George Andres walked out of court a winner Tuesday.

A judge ruled that Anders could continue to fly his American flag, despite the fact that the way he flies it is against his neighborhood association's regulations.

Andres, a former Marine, has been fighting his homeowners' association for almost three years to keep his flag flying on top of a 12-foot pole in his front yard. The Indian Creek Homeowners' Association guidelines state the flag may only be flown from brackets attched to a house.

"Guys overseas right now -- what are they putting their lives on the line for? That flag," Andres said. "Millions of people have put their lives on the line to protect the flag. For me, I feel the same way. I would go again tomorrow if I had to."

In a surprising ruling Tuesday, circuit judge Ronald Alvarez removed all homeowners' association's restrictions against flying the American flag.

"It's a great thing to happen right before the Fourth of July, because now, George is independent from any type of restriction on his right to fly the flag," attorney Barry Silver said.

The homeowners' association fined Andres $100 a day for flying the flag, but during that time, he garnered support from people all over the country.

Last July, veterans raised their voices in salute of Old Glory to show their support.

A local radio station also raised money to help Andres keep the flag flying. And Gov. Jeb Bush signed a law in April that makes it illegal to ban anyone from flying the American flag, unless it poses a safety hazard.

Bush visited Andres last month on Flag Day to show his support.

In nearly three years Andres has racked up fines close to $70,000. He has paid out almost $40,000 in attorney's fees. A lien recently was placed on his house.

"The last two months have been very rough on us, trying to figure out how we're going to pay bills. We live on social security and our pension. I had to go out and get a temporary job to help bring in some funds, so I can pay my bills," Andres said.

A hearing will be scheduled to determine whether Andres will have to pay the fees that are still outstanding.

[Dazedcat]

http://www.geocities.com/dazed cat/july4th.jpg

[COB1]

"Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors and tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two lost their sons serving in the Continental Army; another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated.
But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy.
He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly.
He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding.
His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters.
He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire.
The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed.
The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying.
Their 13 children fled for their lives.
His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste.
For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.
A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.

Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution.
These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education.
They had security, but they valued liberty more.
Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: '"For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."' They gave you and me a free and independent America.
The history books never told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War.

We didn't fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time, and we fought our own government!
Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't.
So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots.
It's not much to ask for the price they paid.
Remember freedom is never free!
It's time we get the word out that patriotism is not a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games."'

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Thank you, Gracey.