Independence Day reflections from a thankful American [WEB EXCLUSIVE]

By: James Mack, Jr.

Posted: 6/24/05

This Independence Day, Drexel students went out to the barbeques, watched the West Wing marathon on Bravo, or saw the plethora of fireworks displays in the Delaware Valley. Deep down inside, however, we all remembered why we actually celebrate Independence Day. The freedom to watch crappy shows like The West Wing, and eat whatever we choose whenever we choose to is part of the unique liberty this country celebrates. The moment we declared our independence from England, we entered ourselves into the annals of history as the greatest nation on Earth.

Any history major worth their salt could recite the complete pre-Revolutionary War political structure of this country and the changes it made throughout our early years. But perhaps, the freedom we celebrate can exemplify by a few anecdotal pieces of evidence.

In 1993, in the Battle of Mogadishu, Sgt. First Class Randy Shughart and Master Sgt. Gary Gordon were part of the special forces detachment whose mission was to capture lieutenants of genocidal warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. When a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter was shot down by enemy fire, Shughart and Gordon volunteered three times to go to the crash site and hold off the mob from the survivors of the crash. After having their request repeatedly denied, they were finally allowed to proceed. Chief Warrant Officer Mike Durant, pilot of the downed Black Hawk and lone survivor of the crash, was badly injured and was quickly running out of ammunition to defend himself from the heavily-armed crowd.

After pulling Durant to safety, Shughart and Gordon both fought down to their last magazine of ammunition. Both died in the helicopter they were sent to defend. Durant was taken prisoner, and then released weeks later. Even without knowing the fate of those in the Black Hawk, both of these men volunteered themselves to die for the men beside them.

In the opening weeks of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith was part of the 11th Engineering Battalion supporting the 7th Infantry Regiment. On April 4, 2003, while engaged in a fierce firefight to block the road to the Baghdad Airport, Smith and 16 other soldiers used an armored bulldozer to knock down a wall being used for cover by almost 100 insurgents. In the meantime, an armored personnel carrier was heavily damaged by mortar and stranded in the line of fire. Smith fought his way to the APC and took command of the damaged vehicle. While providing cover for the soldiers, he manned the APC's machine gun, going through three boxes of ammunition before being mortally wounded by enemy fire.

Shughart, Gordon, and Smith all share a few things in common. They all died to protect their fellow soldiers. They placed themselves in harm's way so that the person next to them could see their families again. They also fought and died under a flag that they believed in. They believed in this country so much, they went to a recruiter one day and signed on the dotted line. These three soldiers all received the Medal of Honor posthumously, and were the only three to do so since the Vietnam War.

Independence Day is a time of celebration. We began as colonies under one King, and now live in a country governed by the people, for the people. We've had our good moments, and our bad. We have seen the best and the worst of humanity, just like every other country. But what separates us from others is that we constantly work to better ourselves. We see injustices in the world, and work to right what was once wrong. We do not sit idly by while tyrants abuse their citizens and starve them into submission. Most importantly of all, we fight to preserve the very freedom we have created.

There are millions of Americans that have given their lives to fight for this freedom, and millions more who put their lives on the line every day to continue this righteous tradition. Gary Gordon, Randy Shughart, and Paul Smith paid the ultimate price so that the very ideals of this country could be preserved at home, and spread abroad. The hopeless become hopeful, and the oppressed can become liberated. As country, we naturally have a few problems here and there. But what the domestic naysayers ignore, and our enemies fear, is the idea of freedom and liberty that we were blessed with 229 years ago. Today, we continue that tradition, and we honor those who have made it possible.