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Here we are again, celebrating the birth of our wonderful country.  For me, as a citizen and a Korean War Veteran, it has always meant so very much because, being a veteran,  I believe that I can relate to all veterans - not that I had a tough a time of it as those men who fought for our freedom and survived Concord and Bunker Hill, Valley Forge, George Rogers Clark’s heroic expedition thru flooded terrain to capture Vincennes, Cowpens and Yorktown just to mention a few of the great battles which secured our freedom from Great Britain.  But I was awarded, as are all those men and women who come under enemy fire, the Combat Infantry Badge.  It is a small medal, with a replica of a Revolutionary War rifle mounted on a field of blue enamel and encircled by a silver wreath.   It is my most prized possession.

That ‘specialness’ I have always felt for the 4th of July is due, in part, to my Great-grand-father Allen Coberly - his Great-grand-father fought against the British.  Granddad, as we all called him, was born in 1858 in Bowden, West Virginia and died at the age of 92 when I was a junior in college.  He was a great storyteller and I remember well his stories of Yankee raids during the Civil War and the difficulty of living under martial law for almost four years.  But I’ll save those stories for another time.  What most fascinated me about his many conversations was his emphasis on how closely we are attached to our ancestors and to history.  He often related to me that, as a young man, he listened to the stories of old men whose fathers had fought in the Revolutionary War.  Because of him, I am just two conversations away from speaking with Revolutionary War veterans.  He made it all seem so relevant, so close to me and to him, and as a direct result of these conversations, I majored in history at West Virginia University. 

So, on this special day, I feel as though I can almost here their voices - those brave men and women who made the Fourth of July the celebration that it is of our freedom.  Remember those folks who came before us and fly an American Flag to commemorate them and their deeds.  Happy Fourth!