When I woke up this morning, I was aware it was a national holiday across the country for many people, which to some means a chance to avoid a clock alarm or to disable it. Then, I could stroll into the kitchen for a morning protein shake, others of you might select coffee, and check the headlines of several news outlets, including the paper to see what happened overnight.

Our country is not currently in an outright engagement of war with any other country, although we have service personnel dispatched around the world in service of peace seeking and peace keeping endeavors. I have the ability to engage with social media and speak my mind on any topic. I usually keep my opinions on hot-pulse-item subjects off social media, but I am still free to write anything I want without fear of oppression from my government.

Any day of the week I have the freedom to walk into any church I want and pray to a higher power of my choosing with any words of my choice without fear of punishment for being wrong or worse, unlawful. If, heaven forbid, I should be pulled over for what one person says is speeding, and I beg to differ, I have the right to contest the charge in a fair trial if I so choose. If several of my friends and family want to gather on a street corner and hold up signs that protest anything (say the destruction of an historic building that has been standing for 126 years), I have that right and I will not be arrested for protesting (civilly).

The First Amendment to the U.S. constitution, the first of the Bill of Rights is not only the expression of thought freely—it is the right to believe and think the way I want. No one is telling me who or what I can/should/ought to believe. It’s all up to me to decide, without penalty, without rejection, and most importantly, without fear.

In any one of these sentences, it is not my intent to offend any reader, yet if I do, there is no penalty because I have the freedom to express myself, in print or in writing, as my personal opinion.

The cost for all of these freedoms came 247 years ago. We were people who previously were part of the British empire. We were loyal to a monarchy and our forefathers worshiped, for the most part, in a singular religion that was the official religion of the country. Taxation was not part of what we could set, but we did have to follow the rules. Then, many of our ancestors came from other countries run by different rule sets and leaders but, by and large, free will was not part of the theme of one’s life back then. Freedom in general was a nice word in a sentence, but it was not reality for so many for so long.

And then a group of rebels came along and decided to create something brand new, somewhere else, and to leave behind the world they’d known all of their lives to that point. They escaped tyranny, and in general sought to give their families “better” than they’d had thus far in their lives.

The cost was steep. Human lives, hard times, fierce weather, tremendous challenges, and things reduced to words and a few pictures in a history book don’t really portray reality for what the founding fathers, and patriotic, spirited spouses and children experienced. Especially when the sun is out, we hop into our vehicles, safe from the elements, many of us in air-conditioned comfort, and experience a day of rest from our daily jobs.

It’s rare that anyone give thought to the struggles of George Washington’s troops at

in 1777 during the American Revolutionary War. The soldiers for the most part didn’t even have blankets, strong coats or even decent shoes to wear, yet they were defending their position against the British, who were camped out in Philadelphia. With the cold weather came deadly strains of flu and typhoid, and there were no modern conveniences of medicines and hospitals. Everything around us today, creature comforts and modern conveniences makes it so easy to forget what brave souls did for us so long, long ago. It’s human nature not to want to conjure up images of sacrifice and pain, or to think of those who gave their lives for generations of people who had not even yet been born.

The American Way. That is a phrase that is used often sometimes correctly, other times not so much. The word to insert in “American” is “freedom” and perhaps that makes it come to life a bit better. Freedom of, freedom to, freedom with.

It is amazing to see where we are in modern day governmental operations among parties of both extremes of thinking. The battles are not fought across the aisles with weapons but the exchange of words as weapons flows so freely that it is sometimes scary to hear the day’s events. Civil behavior has become open to interpretation as day after day we hear phrases offered about colleagues that we would never have thought up, much less said out loud, to our competitors in life and work. Some days I wonder how today’s Continental Congress could have ever mustered an agreement over simple decisions were today’s leaders the ones to make their choices.

That’s probably where the phrase “Those who do not learn from history are destined (or doomed) to repeat it.” I don’t have cause to commit or convict those of one side or another in writing. Instead, I offer one suggestion that can be either considered or disregarded. Today in the Brazos Valley, we have many young people straight from high school who have begun their military service and training to protect our nation in times of war and peace. They’re nowhere near able to grab a hot dog and soft drink and sit back and wait for the water sports today or fireworks displays tonight that the rest of us are planning to enjoy this holiday.

May we say a prayer for each of them, of thanks for their intention of service, of hope for their interest in a military career, of love for the sacrifice of precious young life days spent to learn from older, wiser instructors, and for peace that they may never have to dive into a fox hole for anything other than practice.

If you can text them, call them, Facebook post them, or otherwise communicate with them, let them hear from you. Tell them “thank you for your service” and know it will make a difference to them. When you see an active military duty service person in town, stop and thank them, visit the various memorials, monuments, and grave sites of those who served and be proud of your friends and loved ones.

Most of all, I thank God we live in the United States, and in the Brazos Valley, where everywhere you go, you see red, white and blue all around you. Neighborhoods have flags up and down their esplanades; the

has the Field of Flags at the Veteran’s Cemeteries. You’ll find small U.S. flags on grave sites where generous individuals have made provisions in advance, and when the patriotic music begins tonight, know that we are indeed blessed to say “God Bless America,” we can pledge allegiance to a flag that waves strong and proud, even in sweltering heat, and we as a people stand for the concept of freedom.

One special request: if you are anywhere near where loud fireworks will be set off (even the illegal ones that seem to go off in every neighborhood around, despite numerous pleadings of neighbors for fear of fire exposure), please remember that so many of us have animals, particularly dogs and cats with super-sensitive hearing skills, far beyond human hearing capacities. The fireworks amplify at least five or six times as loudly to them as you are hearing. Please keep your pets inside during all the fireworks and if you can put on the TV or music at a level that can help counter the fireworks, that will bring them comfort. If your pets are inside fenced-in yards, please remember that they will be likely to jump fences because they are highly unsettled. Stay safe this holiday and keep all your loved ones safe as well.

May God continue to bless America and as long as possible and may old Glory wave strong and proud. Thanks to all of our service personnel, active and retired. We know freedom is not free and we thank you for your gifts and sacrifices to keep us from harm. Happy 4

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of July to all of you!

Cody D. Jones ‘02

Owner & Community Member

This is the day when we break out the red, white, and blue décor and display our pride in being Americans with the rest of our community, same as we do every year at this time. Across the Brazos Valley some of our neighborhoods are staging their own parades and parents have helped their children decorate their bike handles with streamers. Sound systems are playing “The Stars and Stripes Forever” as a parade route forms. Pedal cars are moving into position behind the four- and five-year-old drivers maneuvering into position. Electric cars driven by Batman or John Deere III slide into view.

From the days when the late Hon. W. T. “Tom” McDonald, Jr. founded the parade at Heritage Park for the 4

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of July to cross town at Copperfield and over to College Station – patriotism is on full review today as it is every year at this time. Somehow it seems more poignant this year, maybe because Chelsea and I are talking about “God bless America” and “We are proud to be Americans” but how does he know that it is not in the same intonation as we declare allegiance and loyalty to our beloved Aggies as we sing “We are the Aggies, the Aggies are we, we’re from Texas AMC”?

One claim is a birthright versus a conscious choice to stand up for and stand behind the principles upon which loyalty is shown to both institutions of government and college rivalry. Another difference is that there is typically only pride at stake when university rivalries are tested each week on a field of contention, whether turf, gravel, or aggregate rubber. To be sure, today Americans almost take it for granted that if our team loses, either the next year will bring about satisfaction or correction of an aggrieved error. You mope for a day or two, but you plan to rebuild for the next time you face off with “the enemy.”

In a company where assets can be built or lost, still there is no level of “life or death” at stake. You win profits, you lose assets. You always have a second chance to redo, rebuild, grow again. And yet, when it comes to America…things are quite different.

Today more than ever, decisions that are made on behalf of American citizens live on beyond a single law, rule, or vote, whether these guidelines and rules were put into place two years ago or over 200 years ago and have survived to those in power today. And yet, we think back to the days when loyalty was a life and death choice to make. In those cases, decisions were made within a few seconds whether you were to declare yourself loyal to the Monarch of England of whether you wanted to declare yourself “free.”

What is freedom? What does it mean to have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and what is specifically guaranteed to us by the 14

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Amendment to the U. S. Constitution? Due process of law, equal protection under the law, right to citizenship, and that NO ONE can take away our life, liberty, and that rarely thought about “pursuit of happiness.” We just take it for granted that it is something we are “due,” the pursuit of happiness. What no one stops to think about is if/when we ever consider not being able to pursue happiness. We have never awakened in the morning not free to go about our day as we wish. No one has dictated to us before, certainly not a king, not a person, or a soldier, or a self-appointed ruler. Americans gave their lives long ago for our freedom today.

Sometimes the only way you can explain freedom, especially as we do to children when we teach them about life, is to explain what it means to “NOT” have freedom. The absence of something we have, whether we realize it, is punishment. However, we take so many things for granted in life, we rarely have time or opportunity to consider what our life would be without them.

Freedom is not political. Freedom is a birthright of being an American. Just two weeks ago in the Brazos Valley we had new naturalized citizens take the oath of allegiance at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, truly a momentous occasion at an iconic location. Today’s news sources note that 11,000 people will celebrate the 4

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of July this year by doing the same thing—taking the oath of allegiance—between June 28 – June 5.

As one part of the test, U.S. citizens take a test to express their knowledge of English, and then there’s an oral exam of 10 civics questions. Six of 10 questions must be answered correctly to pass. Do you know who wrote the Declaration of Independence? How many stripes were on the first U.S. flag? What did they represent? Who was Susan B. Anthony?

People continue to seek citizenship in America as we continue to be known as “land of the free, home of the brave.” May we continue to teach our young people today how important it is to remain free, to continue to be brave in the face of dangerous challenges to our freedom, and to be willing to defend our country against enemies, seen and unseen. May God continue to bless America today as every day and long may our flag fly high as a sign that our country remains free.

Cody D. Jones ‘02

Owner & Community Member