A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day 7-04-02 thru 7-07-02

"A few of FR's Finest" will return 7-08-02

[Mama_Bear]

Celebrating American Independence Day
July 4, 1776




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Have a safe and happy 4th of July

THIS WEEK'S THREADS

07-01-02 Veterans Group 9
07-02-02 JulieRNR21
07-03-02 Lodwick

[Billie]

Thanks for everything!

[JustAmy]

I was born on July 4, 1776, and the Declaration of Independence is my birth certificate. The bloodlines of the world run in my veins, because I offered freedom to the oppressed. I am many things and many people. I am the nation.

I am 250 million living souls — and the ghost of millions who have lived and died for me. I am Nathan Hale and Paul Revere. I stood at Lexington and fired the shot heard around the world. I am Washington, Jefferson and Patrick Henry. I am John Paul Jones, the Green Mountain Boys and Davy Crockett. I am Lee and Grant and Abe Lincoln.

I remember the Alamo, the Maine and Pearl Harbor. When freedom called, I answered and stayed until it was over, over there. I left my heroic dead in Flanders Field, on the rock of Corregidor, on the bleak slopes of Korea and in the steaming jungle of Vietnam.

I am the Brooklyn Bridge, the wheatlands of Kansas and the granite hills of Vermont. I am the coal fields of the Virginias and Pennsylvania, the fertile lands of the West, the Golden Gate and the Grand Canyon. I am Independence Hall, the Monitor and the Merrimac.

I am big. I sprawl from the Atlantic to the Pacific — my arms reach out to embrace Alaska and Hawaii. I am more than five million farms. I am forest, field, mountain and desert. I am quiet villages — and cities that never sleep.

You can look at me and see Ben Franklin walking down the streets of Philadelphia with his bread loaf under his arm. You can see Betsy Ross with her needle. You can see the lights of Christmas and hear the strains of "Auld Lang Syne" as the calendar turns.

I am Babe Ruth and the World Series. I am 110,000 schools and colleges and 330,000 churches where my people worship God as they think best. I am a ballot dropped into a box, the roar of a crowd in a stadium, and the voice of a choir in a cathedral. I am an editorial in a newspaper and a letter to a congressman.

I am Eli Whitney and Stephen Foster. I am Tom Edison, Albert Einstein and Billy Graham. I am Horace Greeley, Will Rogers and the Wright brothers. I am George Washington Carver, Jonas Salk and Martin Luther King, Jr. I am Longfellow, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Walt Whitman and Thomas Paine.

Yes, I am the nation, and these are the things that I am. I was conceived in freedom and, God willing, in freedom I will spend the rest of my days.

May I possess always the integrity, the courage and the strength to keep myself unshackled, to remain a citadel of freedom and a beacon of hope to the world.

- Otto Whittaker

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God Bless America on her birthday.

Like MacArthur I shall return. (Probably on Monday)

[lodwick]

A happy Independence Day to one and all.

Let's Roll. ;-)

[whoever]

American Jamboree

Get ready for a celebration
Of a country proud and free
Hold your flags way up high
So all the world can see!

From coast to coast we'll celebrate
With fireworks shooting high
Children's eyes wide with wonder
At the sparkle in the sky.

The price of freedom came quite high
Many died to keep us free
We'll remember them in our prayers
For what they gave to you and me.

We fight for freedom for the world
We share our wealth with all
Many allies we are blessed with
And we shall never fall!

So celebrate this land of ours
Be thankful that you're free
A Happy 4th I wish to all
From sea to shining sea!

[Billie]

Thanks for coming, and have a wonderful holiday.

[Billie]

Hi, Greg - thanks for coming - hope your weekend is great. Please come back.

[Billie]

Balckie! I found one of your BABY PICTURES!

[whoever]

AMERICA FOR ME!

'Tis fine to see the Old World, and travel up and down
Among the famous palaces and cities of renown
To admire the crumbly castles and the statues of the kings, --
But now I think I've had enough of antiquated things.

So it's home again, and home again, America for me!
My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be
In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars!

Oh London is a man's town, there's power in the air
And Paris is a woman's town, with flowers in her hair;
And it's sweet to dream in Venice, and it's great to study Rome;
But when it comes to living there is no place like home.

I like the German fir-woods, in green battalions drilled
I like the gardens of Versailles with flashing fountains filled;
But, oh, to take your hand, my dear, and ramble for a day
In the friendly western woodland where Nature has her way!

I know that Europe's wonderful, yet something seems to lack:
The Past is too much with her, and the people looking back.
But the glory of the Present is to make the Future free, --
We love our land for what she is and what she is to be.

Oh, it's home again, and home again, America for me!
I want a ship that's westward bound to plough the rolling sea,
To the blessed Land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars,
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars!

~by Henry Van Dyke~

[Billie]

Good Independence Day to you, dear Maggie.

[Mama_Bear]

Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country and two words have been added to the pledge of Allegiance... UNDER GOD. Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer and that would be eliminated from schools too?

How prophetic and, indeed, what a pity it is to see the state we have come to. Thank God, the uproar and outrage over this has resounded mightily through the mountains and valleys of our great country. May God continue to bless us and keep us strong. I believe that we are in a battle daily to save our country - and FReepers are up to the task!

Thank you for posting the link to Red Skelton's moving commentary on the Pledge of Allegiance. Have a safe and happy Independence Day.

[lodwick]

[Billie]

Dear, sweet Amy, I am so happy to see you here today. You've been in my thoughts these past few days.

[whoever]

OLD GLORY

She may be torn and tattered,
But, still our flag flies free;
Bought with a price, she proudly waves,
For all the world to see.

She will not be defeated,
Forever she will stand;
As Liberty, Freedom and Justice,
Ring throughout this land.

The stars and stripes are a symbol,
Of a country who still prays;
In God we trust --- our flag still stands,
America . . . home of the brave!!

[lodwick]

"OLD GLORY!


This famous name was coined by Captain Stephen Driver, a shipmaster of Salem, Massachusetts, in 1831. As he was leaving on one of his many voyages aboard the brig CHARLES DOGGETT - and this one would climax with the rescue of the mutineers of the BOUNTY - some friends presented him with a beautiful flag of twenty four stars. As the banner opened to the ocean breeze for the first time, he exclaimed "Old Glory!"

I did not know this.

[MeekOneGOP]

I think the Liberal Ruling Under God (legislating from the bench) will be reversed, possibly
without even having to go the SCOTUS. If NOT, then SCOTUS will toss it in the dumper!

I remember watching Red Skelton as a kid and sure thought the world of him then. Still do.

You have a great 4th too!

[Mama_Bear]

You've done such a wonderful presentation of this Fourth of July Celebration, Mama_Bear!

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. It is my pleasure to work with Billie and Daisy on this thread with all of these wonderful FReepers. So many fine people spend their day in FR uplifting, bolstering and morale building. This is a wonderful place and I am honored to be a small part of the good things that FreeRepublic does. God bless each one of us and Jim and John Robinson for providing this cyber home. :-)

Have a sparkly 4th of July!

[JustAmy]

Thank you, Billie. I felt like spending a few minutes with dear friends today. My cousin e-mailed that 'I am the Nation' to me this morning and I did not want to wait until a later date to post it.

[dutchess]

Mr. D. was in a couple parades today (he's an elected official). They were in small rural towns in our county and it was so neat to see so many floats honoring our military and our country. In one town an 80 year old woman passed out flags to all the bystanders... It all made me very proud of the county (AND country) I live in.

Great graphics today Mama-Bear. Hope you all have a WONDERFUL 4th!

[LadyX]

Laughing so hard!!

You haven't changed a bit since you were a little tyke...:)))
We'd know you anywhere!

[LadyX]

Very Special hugs for you, Amy.....