Happy Birthday, USA!

This morning I’m sitting, far too comfortably in my living room here in the great state of Florida, watching the remarkable July 4th events as they are presented to us via a technology that didn’t exist when those first patriots founded our nation. The world had to wait about 150 years before an American with a great name, Philo Farnsworth, invented the technology that brought television to the world. And so, thanks to what Philo did in 1929, today you and I can watch, in living color and on big screens, as our nation celebrates 250 years of independence and freedom. 

(Ok, a little aside: There's also a lot of garbage on TV, but we shouldn't blame Philo for that. Indeed, to rid ourselves of TV trash, we can thank another American, Robert Adler, a Jewish physicist who emigrated from Nazi-Austria in 1938, went to work for Zenith and invented the wireless remote control. So, if you don't like what some network wants you to watch, just grab your remote, push the button, change the channel, and thank Robert Adler.) 

I just watched the Navy's flight demonstration team, The Blue Angels, for about the hundredth time. They roared over the Hudson River in their usual tight formation trailing behind them a stream of red, white, and blue. As a long-retired Naval aviator who earned his "wings" in 1968, I have known many Blue Angel pilots, all remarkable aviators and good guys. 

Witnessing all of this today I’m reminded of the events Diane and I watched 50 years ago on the USA’s 200th birthday. We'd just moved into a new home in Bonita, California, thanks to another change of duty station ordered by the U.S. Navy. Within a few weeks I was at sea aboard the USS OKINAWA (LPH-3) as the ship prepared for a long deployment in the Western Pacific. At the time Diane and I had three young children. Erin was 5, Siobhan was 3, and Ethan was only 2. Erin might recall some of what we watched that day on our much smaller TV, but I suspect the others were too young. Brendan, our fourth and today a former U.S. Marine, didn’t make his global debut until Diane’s birthday on December 8, 1977. 

Although today we're taking a long look at those 250 years, it's important to turn our primary focus toward the inaugural event, the day our founders formed the United States as an independent nation free of foreign control. The Second Continental Congress accomplished this on July 4, 1776 by signing and formally adopting the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson. Almost 50 years later, the artist, John Trumbull, gave us a painting (below) of that historic event. Although not totally accurate, Trumbull's painting is still a beautiful depiction and encapsulates the essence of the Declaration's adoption by Congress.

Part of this year's tribute to our nation's founding was yesterday's celebration at Mount Rushmore in North Dakota. 20 Years ago, in June 2006, Diane and I spent a day at Mount Rushmore on our way to visit our daughter and her family in California. If you have never gone to Mount Rushmore, add it to your bucket-list. It's truly worth a visit. Here are a few photos I took as we stood in awe at the foot of this huge sculpture. The first is a typical shot of the four presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Lincoln.

I especially like this one, though, a photo I took from an unusual angle and precarious spot, showing my favorite, President George Washington.

If you didn't catch President Trump's speech at Mount Rushmore last night, find it and listen. As he reminded us, no nation in the history of the world has accomplished so much for so many. Yes, we have our faults, for we are simply human, but we also have a history of overcoming and correcting those imperfections through a continuous effort to become greater.

Today we are in the midst of a battle for our nation's soul. It is not a political battle between left and right, and those who believe we can achieve victory solely through political action are condemned to lose. The same is true for those who believe it is simply an economic battle between capitalism and socialism. Rather, this battle, this war, is spiritual, a battle between good and evil. We must do our part, and realize that only when we turn to God in total trust, when we allow Him to lead us, when we accept Him as "the Way and the Truth and the Life" (John 14:6), can we hope to achieve the victory God wants for us.

Pray today, folks. Pray for our nation. Pray for those who have given their lives for this uniquely good nation. And pray for the souls of those who signed that Declaration, always keeping in mind the document's final sentence:

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

We must do no less.

And an "Oh, by the way..." My parents, Martha and John McCarthy, were married on July 4, 1935, 91 years ago today. Unlike today's celebrities they were married in a simple ceremony, in a Catholic church and not in Madison Square Garden. It was a small, but devout nuptial Mass, an event great in God's eyes, an event for which I am eternally grateful.

God bless America.