Who We Are

Sunday, July 04, 2010

We Salute Those Who Protect Our Freedom

Here at Ao4 Headquarters, we celebrate Independence Day and our nation's birth by honoring those who fought for and continue to fight for our freedom. Today, we'd like to share a wonderful article with you, brought to us by our banking, investment and insurance company - USAA. They granted us permission to post it here on the Ao4 Digest. (Thank you, USAA!!)

As a lead in, we give you a short video Mom shot off our deck with her iPhone 4.


Fireworks!
We Salute Those Who Protect Our Freedom ~ from USAA

While most Americans spend this Fourth of July with their loved ones, members of the U.S. military remain on duty to guard against tyranny and stamp out injustice around the globe. They stand for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, carrying on the vision set forth in the Declaration of Independence itself. On this Independence Day, we at USAA salute those who protect our freedom to celebrate.

The Nation's Beginning Independence Day is designated as the day the 13 original colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence in 1776, establishing the United States as a separate nation, free from the rule of Great Britain. In reality, the adoption of the declaration took place over a series of meetings. The most appropriate date to celebrate is often debated by historians. In fact, founding father John Adams predicted a different day in a letter to his wife Abigail: "The Second Day of July 1776 will be the most memorable Epocha in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding Generations as the great anniversary Festival."

With the Revolutionary War still far from over, the earliest citizens of our young nation celebrated the first anniversary of the Declaration in Philadelphia, then the capital city. A 13-gun salute, musical acts and fireworks helped to establish the familiar traditions we still enjoy today.

In 1870, the U.S. Congress made Independence Day an unpaid holiday for federal employees. It wasn't until 1938, more than 162 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, that the Fourth of July became an official paid federal holiday.

Honoring Those Who Serve On Independence Day, we celebrate our freedom as a unified nation. We give thanks to those long ago who envisioned and fought for our land of liberty. And we honor the men and women who still fight to keep America standing strong.
Many thanks for those wonderful words and for letting us share them.

One more video of the fireworks that are shot off at the assisted living place behind our house.

More fireworks!

Disclaimer: We would like to add that we are not fans of fireworks & firecrackers that are shot off all over our neighborhood at all hours of the night and day. Public displays like the one in our videos, however, have a start and stop time, and the remnants (strings, parachutes, cement weights, sticks, and cordite-laced cardboard, to name a bit of it) aren't strewn all over our yard and the streets and sidewalks. Some of us (and we won't say who) just can't resist trying to snarf it all up, then get sick and horka. And then there is the noise...! End of Ao4 disclaimer.

Wishing all of you a safe and happy Independence Day.

The Army of Four

22 comments:

  1. Very nice! Have a great Independence Day!

    Sam

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  2. That is a wonderful post!! Have a great Independence Day! Lots of love, Debbie and Holly

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  3. Liked this post! Thanks.
    Tailwags & have a great Independence Day!
    Ernie,Sasha,Chica

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  4. happy independence day to the ao4!!!

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  5. Happy Fourth of July! And we are with you in saluting all those men and women serving our country! (And we're lucky with the fireworks thing - we live in the mountains and fire is a real danger, so they are banned everywhere except for designated areas far, far away from us!)

    *kissey face*
    -Fiona and Abby the Mutant Puppy

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  6. We thank our troops every single day for keeping us safe!
    I can't wait till the fireworks are over! I'm tired of panting and hiding!

    Love ya lots,
    Maggie and Mitch

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  7. Nice tribute guys. Happee 4th
    Benny & Lily

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  8. We just loved your tribute and Mama liked the fireworks.

    HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

    Smileys & Snuggles!
    Dory, Bilbo and Jacob

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  9. Pawesome post!
    Happy Independence Day to all of you!
    Kisses and hugs
    Lorenza

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  10. Happy Independence Day to you - a lovely post.
    Those are the only kind of fireworks we like - we get scared by the ones we see and hear for real but we appreciate it is a special celebration.
    love
    martha and bailey xxx

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  11. Great post! Thank you. Happy 4th of July to you!

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  12. Happy 4th of July guys, we hope you are all having a pawsome day over there! :)

    Thanks for sharing the post. :)


    PS: Dave - yep one of them had a sqeaker in... Harooo! :))

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  13. Lovely post! Happy July 4th!

    Steve

    PS. My mom and I would like to second your disclaimer.

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  14. Happy Independence Day to all of you!

    Huffs

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  15. What a wonderful post! We like seeing those fireworks display since we hate them being shot off in the neighborhood too. We hope all of you have a happy, safe and quiet 4th!

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  16. Anonymous7:59 PM

    Have a fabulous day, AO4! Hope the fireworks don't bother woo too much.

    WOOOOOO woo rar rar rar,
    Kayla and Maebe

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  17. What a great post! We are thankful for those who fight for our freedom every day! We hate the mess left by all the "illegal" fireworks in our neighborhood too. They are banned here but everyone still uses them.
    Snuggles and hugs,
    Twix

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  18. Excellent post, as usual Ao4! Mom and my Daddy went to the Roswell fireworks display tonight but we were allowed to stay home. I think they understand that none of us would enjoy it even with set start and stop times!

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  19. We just popped by to say hello, we will read and watch the video later, just didn't want you to think we had forgotten youse.

    lotsaluv and belated Happy Independence Day!

    Jeannie and Marvin xxxxxxxxx

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  20. Lovely tribute to our Nation's bday! Happy Birthday, USA! Great vids and what a view from your house!
    Hugs xoxoxo
    Sammie

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  21. Hope you had a wonderful 4th of July. We agree about the fireworks, makes me nervous when they do them around our house.

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  22. Happy belated independence day!
    Hope it was good and that the fireworks weren't too loud!
    Kodi x

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