Remembrance

 
As a veteran celebrating the 4th of July I am mindful.
 
I embrace all Americans, especially you who decided this human opportunity, this America, this group idea, was worth living and, if required, dying for.
 
Sometimes it bothers me that others could so casually throw away that opportunity or demean it. Then I recognize in me, in my blood, an energy, an aliveness born from the fight. Then I realize that having that aliveness in me is worth the price paid.
 
I feel a sense of loss for all those who demonstrate they do not know that strange excitement of realizing shared greatness, because each in their way contributes to its unfolding story.
 
While I do not think I could do it again, so hard was that journey, I will be forever grateful that I did, and for those who shared it with me in this great experiment in group living.
 
Celebrate America everyone!
 
No price is too high for what America means to our shared human journey, or what it means to be an American.
 
Light one for those who cannot be with us. They celebrate from wherever they are.
 
Semper Fi
 
James McTague
 
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