Miss Becky's Blog

Pride, Patriotism on Display on Fourth of July

Pride, patriotism on display on Fourth of July . . . Veterans, civilians turn out for parades and fireworks across the U.S.

Families sat down to picnics, attended parades, and crowded parks and rooftops to watch fireworks as the nation celebrated its 230th birthday Tuesday.

** More than 120,000 bursts of color, light and pyrotechnics filled the darkness as The New York Pops regaled crowds with a soundtrack of patriotic standards and original music charting America’s evolution.

** At Fort Bragg, N.C., home of the 82nd Airborne Division, President Bush offered thanks and encouragement to the troops. “You are serving our country at a time when our country needs you. And because of your courage, every day is Independence Day in America,” Bush told an estimated 3,500 service members at an outdoor speech.

** As many as 500,000 people gathered in Boston for a concert and fireworks extravaganza near the Charles River, state police estimated. (OUR DAUGHTER, KARA WAS THERE IN BOSTON TODAY!!!) Earlier Tuesday, the city began its celebration with a reading of the Declaration of Independence from a balcony at the Old State House, where townspeople first heard it more than two centuries ago. (KARA AND I VISITED THIS BUILDING WHEN I HELPED HER MOVE TO BOSTON LAST AUGUST.)

Weather dampens some parties

In many regions, the searing heat and near-drought conditions tamped down the celebration Tuesday.

** About 100 people were treated for heat exhaustion in Washington, D.C., after an Independence Day parade in humid, 90-degree weather near the Mall. Most of the patients were marchers, said Alan Etter, a spokesman for the District of Columbia fire and EMS Department. One was hospitalized.

** Because of the hot, dry weather in Mandan, N.D., fire trucks were held out of the July Fourth parade. "We don’t want to get hung up in a parade and can’t get out attend to a fire if one should start.. It’s just too risky,” said Mandan Rural Fire Chief Lynn Gustin.

** In Frostburg, Md., Floyd Wigfield, an 87-year-old veteran of the 1944 D-Day invasion, was among the estimated 1,200 veterans who lined up for a half-mile during a Fourth of July parade. “They’re celebrating all the veterans for years and years,” said Wigfield, who wore his green wool Army uniform despite the soaring heat.

** There also was quiet reflection during the long holiday weekend. In Yakima, Wash., a crowd of more than 200 people prayed quietly at the dedication late Monday of a war memorial honoring six soldiers and Marines with ties to the area who have died in Iraq.