Life and July 4th

Watching fireworks at our lake house on July 4^th brought several nights of dreams of past July 4ths.  In 1967, I was working at Camp Union in New Hampshire sitting by a campfire in the White Mountains.  The summer of 1968, I drove big trucks for a farmer near Dixie, Washington, and remember driving with my buddy Teddy Bear from New Orleans, to Walla Walla to a hamburger drive-in.  In 1969, I was in Germany working at an orphanage as a lifeguard and we celebrated the 4^th early by stopping the milk cart and drinking our first milk all summer from a bucket.  1970 took me to Fort Sill and my basic Army training.  My tent mates and I spent the 4^th on Lake Elmer Thomas.  We camped next to a returning Vietnam vet and his family who shared their food and his war stories.  After completing my basic training, I went home to be with my mom who was dying.  The summer of 1971, I managed the LSU Summer Dinner Theater; it was my last summer semester in college. 

I’d lost track of 1972, but this morning going through old papers I found my Airborne Course diploma and realized Tuesday, July 4^th 1972 I was heavy into jump school and by July 1973 I had already rode in too many medevac’s.  Three nights of July 4^th dreams, seven years of life experiences that added to who I am today.  Pick a seven-year life stretch and ask yourself, “Where was I July 4^th and what did life teach me.”  You might be surprised at what you learn. 

1970 Airborne Recruitment Ad