Since Friday, I've wanted to throttle a few folks who tell me, "Have a Happy 4th!", or "Have a happy 4th of July".  Sean Hannity has been saying it all afternoon, for heaven's sake!  Yoo HOOOOO!  We are celebrating INDEPENDENCE DAY! 

Having said that, I want to share a story with you.  It's the history of "Taps".  You know, that heart wrenching, tear swelling bugle piece played at the funeral of any of our fallen heroes?  Yeah, that one.  I remember as a child, going to Girl Scout camp and having Revielle played at wake-up time as they were raising our flag, and Taps played at dusk when we took Old Glory down for the night. 

"Taps" has a particularly interesting history.  As the story goes, a union soldier kept hearing the moans of a soldier wounded in the battle earlier in the day.  The moans came from the battlefield, and it was too dangerous to try to retrieve the wounded soldier.  So, as nightfall came, he went to retrieve the fallen soldier.  When he brought the soldier back to camp, he was aghast to see his own son, in a Confederate uniform, dead.  Because he was an enemy soldier, he was not allowed to bury his son with full military honors, but was able to get a concession.  He could choose between one of three instruments to play at the ceremony.  He chose the bugle.  Why?  His son had been a poet, and his father had found a poem in his pocket.  He asked that the bugle play the words, and here are the words:

Day is done...
Gone the sun,
From the lakes,
From the hills,
From the sky. 
All is well.
Safely rest. 
God is nigh.

Fading light,
Dims the sight.
And a star
Gems the sky.
Gleaming bright
From afar
Drawing nigh,
Falls the night.

Thanks and praise
For our days
Neath the sun,
Neath the stars,
Neath the sky.
As we go,
This we know,
God is nigh.

From the time our soldiers fought for our independence, our freedom, until now, we must remember that we are the Land of the free BECAUSE of the brave.  Celebrate our troops this Independence Day. 

Iraqis do, here's a photo of a statue created by an Iraqi, Karat, showing a little Iraqi girl comforting one of our heroes as he laments the loss of a brother-in-arms.  The statue was made from bronze of a melted down Saddam Hussein statue.