Leif Loved the Fourth of July

I have no photos of Leif setting off fireworks or watching them. I have only the memories of how much he loved the Fourth of July, starting when he was a very young boy. He gloried in all the noise and light, the sound and fury. He was excited when the fireworks stands started popping up. He loved setting off firecrackers and twirling sparklers, and when he was older, the larger fireworks. He loved seeing the big city displays.

One of his last Fourths he was in Tampa, down by Channelside by the bay, watching the fireworks over the water and text messaging me about how beautiful it was.

He loved what the Fourth represented, was passionate about the U.S. Constitution, and defending our liberty.

So today, when I have no photo of him on the Fourth, I am posting the back of my USO t-shirt. He would have approved.

Thoughts on Independence Day 2009

Last night we were at Disney World's Magic Kingdom with our granddaughters. There were spectacular fireworks in honor of Independence Day, accompanied by narration and music. It was moving and beautiful, and patriotic. I couldn't help thinking of Leif, how much he loved fireworks, how passionate he was about his country and Constitution, how he served his country like so many others, and how this handsome and proud soldier, who looked so stalwart and had the best military bearing in the whole Infantry Basic graduating class, a man with such leadership potential, who wanted so badly to serve his country, had all that taken away from him by the very military he loved; his future, his health, his marriage, his confidence dimmed. And yet, he never stopped being passionate about his country, his brothers in arms, his oath to defend the Constitution.

When the Declaration of Independence was signed, our country wasn't yet free, wasn't yet the United States of America, didn't yet have our Constitution, but it was the beginning of the long road and we are all the beneficiaries of what they started.

Happy Independence day, my son. Thank you for being the patriotic man you were, a man who served his country. I cried for you again last night.

Leif on His First Bicycle - Sagamihara, Japan - July 4, 1981 - Age 6 and a half

Leif loved his brother's "Big Wheel and his two tricycles, but they were nothing compared with the speed and freedom a bicycle allowed him. He got his first bicycle, a used one we purchased from a family that was moving back to the USA, when he was six. He learned to ride quickly, showing that natural athletic ability and balance he was to have all of his childhood and youth. He tore around the neighborhood on it, loving that speed. He liked to wear this football helmet. That was in the days before bike helmets. None of us had them. I don't remember how we happened to have the football helmet, since neither of the boys played football, but Leif liked to pretend that it was a pilot's helmet. He used it a lot in imaginative play.

This photo was taken in the evening on the Fourth of July, 1981 in front of our quarters in the Sagamihara Family Housing Area. The street area was well lighted and on summer evenings, the kids in our neighborhood were often out late playing.