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Happy Birthday
America!
By Melissa Martin
Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday Dear American, Happy Birthday to
you. Sing along with me. Let’s eat cake and celebrate the Untied States.
Our nation was born on July 4, 1776. And the Fourth of July is the day
we commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence; the day
the thirteen colonies declared independence from Great Britain.
Stop the Trump-bashing for one day. Stop the political-pelting for one
day. Stop the ‘God bless us four and no more’ for one day.
Show gratitude for the military men and women. Freedom is not free. It
costs lives. Cheer as the parade floats go by. Teach children to salute
soldiers as they march by. Wave the American flag. Honor our current
servicemen and women and thank them.
Pray for the wounded warriors and their recovery in Veterans
Administration hospitals and centers in America.
Peruse the Ohio Department of Veterans Services website. Learn more
about the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame. Ohio offers many services and
supports for veterans and families via 88 local County Veterans Service
Offices. www.dvs.ohio.gov/main/home.html.
Visit the graves of the courageous patriots from past wars. Observe the
small flags flying on veterans’ burial resting places. Ponder on the
sacrifices made.
The National Veterans Memorial and Museum Act designates a place for
construction in Columbus, Ohio, to honor men and women of the armed
forces, and has been signed into law by President Trump.
www.dvs.ohio.gov/ and www.nationalvmm.org/.
“The Ohio Department of Veterans Services strives to ensure that the
voices of Ohio’s 67,000 women veterans are heard.” The Mahoning County
bridge was renamed Women Veterans Memorial Bridge.www.OhioVets.gov.
What’s happening in Ohio’s capital city for veterans? Both active and
non-active military members can take their families to the Columbus Zoo
at no cost during the Fourth of July week from June 30 through July 8,
2018.
Say grace before you gobble yummy picnic foods. Be thankful as you
grill hamburgers and hotdogs. Be appreciative as you eat apple pie and
ice cream. Americans get to choose what to eat and what not to eat. You
can choose to eat turkey, tacos, or tofu on the 4th of July.
Reflect upon our American soil. When my missionary friends returned
from Russia, they went down on their knees at the airport and kissed
the ground. They cried, “God bless America!”
What about fireworks in Ohio’s 88 counties? Visit
www.fireworksinOhio.com/by-county/. Sing the Star Spangled Banner, our
national anthem, at the night sky lights up for liberty. “And the
rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the
night that our flag was still there.”
Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence: “When in the Course of
human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the
political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume
among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which
the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect
to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes
which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”www.ushistory.org/.
Happy 242 years America!
Melissa Martin, Ph.D, is an author, columnist, educator, and therapist.
She lives in Southern Ohio. www.melissamartinchildrensauthor.com.
Contact her at melissamcolumnist@gmail.com.
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