MS LIFE

The Fourth: A declaration defended by real men and women

Mark H. Stowers
Vietnam veteran Ken Byrd of Ridgleand proudly waves his U.S. flag Saturday during the city of Jackson's Veterans Day parade in downtown. Jackson first Veterans Day parade featured highs school bands, military vehicles, junior ROTC groups, and a flyover. Maj. Gen. Katherine Lutz served as Grand Marshall.

Good Mornin'! Good Mornin'!

The Fourth of July is as American of a holiday as you can get. It's all ours and there's no Canadian, Russian or Eastern European celebrating today that they demanded independence from a frumpy ol' king with an army of red-coated men. Thomas Jefferson wrote it, the Continental Congress approved it and now we celebrate the document and the independence with picnics, bar-b-ques, parades and plenty of fireworks. Oh, and the Fresh Prince made a pretty good movie with aliens and such entitled Independence Day.

Now I've had quite a few zip codes in my five decades of taking in oxygen. As a kid we used to go to Macon Lake and swim and have a cookout with hamburgers and hot dogs and plenty of marshmallows were burnt and consumed as well. One such event I gained some intelligence as I found out that a fire is not truly out until its doused with water, stirred up and doused again. I, for reasons unknown to me, walked through the ashes the day after a fire and found that there was till plenty of "fahr" left in the camouflaged burning embers. I'll just blame that one on my siblings not keeping an eye on me.

Later as a Scout, we celebrated the Fourth with Campfires and patriotic songs at Camp Tallaha and probably had something special in the dining hall. And over the years I've seen Fourth of July Fireworks in the states of Florida (Daytona Beach), Tennessee (Love Hill in Nashville), California (Laguna Beach over the ocean), somewhere close to Indianapolis in Indiana and in a few places scattered across Michigan (Torch Lake, Royal Oak, Clawson, our parking lot.) I always have a bag of fireworks with me and I keep it stocked no matter what state I find myself receiving mail in.

Our forefathers were brave to defy a king and his army. These days we all enjoy the freedoms that those brave men established and today's brave men continue to fight and shed blood for. One of those men, Kevin Miller who resides in Inverness but grew up in New Mexico recently posted on his Facebook feed:

"9 years ago, I was in Afghanistan for my 4th deployment there. As we participated in Operation Red Wings, all hell broke loose. Special Operations forces had been killed. 19 to be exact. The recovery of these Special Ops warriors and the one surviving SEAL was a success. One of the saddest days of my career was on the tarmac at Bagram Air Field as we loaded 19 flag draped caskets of these fallen warriors, freedom is not FREE. RIP brothers!"

Makes it all real doesn't it? My oldest daughter recently got to tour Washington D.C. with her eighth grade classmates. The pictures she took of the War Memorials were quite touching – especially the Korean War and Vietnam War Memorials. The soldier statues and names and the gifts and notes left behind by family, friends and loved ones keeps it all alive. Even through the camera lens of my daughter, you could feel the impact of it all.

With more than two decades of Army service under his belt as an Army Special Forces member, Miller has seen plenty of the world. But now retired, he hauls grain for a living and enjoys hunting. He does plenty of big game and turkey – he even has a Royal Slam. That's where you hunt and kill four specific subspecies of turkeys in addition to a Gould. Not easy to do with all your faculties in working order much less with an assortment of Army related injuries.

"I've had two shoulder surgeries since I was in the Army," Miller said. "It's not even the shoulder you pull the (bow) string back with. It pushes back on my left shoulder. Plus, I've got injuries from my Army service. I don't have an index finger or a middle finger on my right hand. I pull the trigger with my ring finger."

If there's anyone who has kept our Independence flowing and helped cement our freedom, Miller should be near the top of the list.

"I was a paratrooper and in 1989 we went to Panama and got (military dictator Manuel) Noriega, then the first Gulf War six months later. And in 1994 we went into Haiti. Then in 2000 to 2002, I spent 19-months in Kosovo Macedonia. Then from 2002 to 2008 I did six tours in Afghanistan and three in Iraq. I stayed gone a lot in the Special Opps Community," Miller said. "I'm fortunate to be here today. And I live life like there's not tomorrow."

So today as you light your grill, jump in the pool or shoot off some bottle rockets, take a moment to remember those brave men who defied a king and gave us a free nation and those men and women who continually put themselves between us and world danger to preserve that freedom.

So I asked Miller what the Fourth meant to him as a US Army Soldier. His response made me smile and proud to know there are such men donning the military uniform for the USA.

"Patriotism, sacrifice, selfless service. John 15:13 – Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."

Who do you know that has helped keep our Independence flowing and our freedom cemented? Add their names and service here or over at Facebook or you can tweet me @markhstowers….see yah next week!