Happy Independence Day!

Folks ask me all the time what do I think is the most important holiday for our Nation’s Veterans.  Veteran’s Day?  Memorial Day?  I argue it is Independence Day….because that is why our Nation’s military exists…to preserve those freedoms provided by those who proceeded us.

There are Americans who believe that our Nation will always be free.  That is not necessarily so.  There is no guarantee that our Nation will always be free.  There are groups across the world who despise our freedoms and our way of life, and we must fight, daily, to preserve our Independence.

That’s what today should be all about….a grateful Nation who enjoys our freedoms and pledges to do whatever is necessary to keep them for our children and their children.  Enjoy the day…but remind each other that this thing we have called Independence came at a significant cost….and that even today freedom isn’t free.

Calvin Coolidge said it best “A Nation that forgets its defenders will soon itself be forgotten”.  Let’s not forget.