4th of July on a Mountain Top
by
Steve Loomis
LTC, EN, U.S. Army
(Retired)
National President
American Veterans
for Equal Rights |
|
As I
enjoyed
a
long 4th
of July
weekend
with
family
and
friends,
several
of whom
are
veterans,
I
remembered
a 4th of
July
that has
an
important
meaning
to me.
Do
we
really
think
about
what
Independence
Day
means in
America?
It of
course
included
fireworks,
but so
much
more.
One
Independence
Day at
sunset,
I stood
on top a
mountain
in South
Vietnam
and
looked
at the
South
China
Sea in
the
distance.
Few of
us
thought
about
the
great
claim of
independence
that
founded
our
country.
Instead,
we were
thinking
about
the
picnics,
the fun
and
especially
the
fireworks
celebrations
we were
missing
back
home.
Our
battalion
commander
put out
the word
earlier
that
there
would be
no
“wasting”
of
ammunition
on a
fireworks
display
for the
4th
of
July.
Missing
out on
our one
chance
to share
a taste
of home,
we sat
glumly
on our
cache of
hand
flares,
machine
gun
tracers
and
mortar
illumination
rounds,
when our
sergeant
major
walked
up. “The
old man
has me
checking
to make
sure you
guys
don’t
shoot
off a
bunch of
rounds,”
he
said.
“Everything
okay,
LT?”
“It’d be a lot
better, sergeant
major, if we could
light up the sky a
little.” Making
matters worse, we
could see other
units shooting off
illumination rounds
from a couple of
distant mountain
tops. In a
particularly
impressive display,
a twin 40 millimeter
gun, a "duster",
trailed a spray of
tracers high across
the evening sky like
a water hose snaking
out of a kid’s hand.
“It probably would,”
the sergeant major
answered. “I’m
going to check on an
illumination mission
the mortar platoon
has to fire, then
I’m going to the old
man’s bunker.
Don’t do anything I
wouldn’t do,
Lieutenant.”
In a moment of
calculated combat
initiative I told my
platoon sergeant to
pass the word, “…the
mortar platoon may
need some help on an
illumination
mission.” Shortly,
we heard the
familiar “thunk” of
the mortar firing.
Overhead a 4.2 inch
mortar round sparked
and lit, its glare
spreading ghostly
shifting shadows
across the
surrounding jungle
valley. My platoon
sergeant and I
picked up hand
flares, pulled the
caps and aimed for
the sky. Swoosh,
pop! The flares,
each hanging in a
small parachute,
added their glare
over our firebase
perimeter. In a
moment a dozen
flares and an M-60
gunner’s tracers
added their light to
the valley. Almost
as quickly a
“ceasefire” command
came from the
commander’s bunker
and when the last
flare sizzled out,
silence and darkness
returned to the
valley surrounding
our mountaintop.
Not surprisingly, no
one knew who fired
those flares.
Throughout our lives
and the life of our
great nation we must
renew our commitment
to the declaration that founded our
country 238 years
ago. Not just with
brilliant fireworks
displays, but with
our actions. We
must do so every
election.
No, that’s not
correct! Every
day we must do
so! The price of
freedom continues to
be eternal
vigilance. Our gay
community and its
veterans are now,
more than ever
before, recipients
of those freedoms.
Our Declaration
of Independence
in its
eloquent and precise
arguments
may be easy
for most of us to
read, but it is
extremely
difficult to put
into practice.
“We hold these
truths to be
self-evident, that
all men are created
equal, that they are
endowed by their
Creator with certain
unalienable Rights,
that among these are
Life, Liberty and
the pursuit of
Happiness,”
Crucially it
continues, “That to secure
these rights,
Governments are
instituted among
Men, deriving their
just powers from the
consent of the
governed…”
When our soldiers
return from harm’s
way, we must insure
they receive support
necessary to help
them be the
contributing members
of our society they
were before their
service. This is
true whether our
sons and daughters
return from an Asian
desert, a jungle
mountain top, or our
fathers from a
stormy French
beach. It is true
whether they are
lesbian, gay,
bisexual,
transgendered or
straight. That is
our mission as
members of American
Veterans for Equal
Rights.
We have always
performed beyond
others
expectations. Our
nation’s founding
Declaration of
Independence
requires no less of
you and I now, than
it did in 1776!
Some of our best
men and women have
remained once again
in harm’s way this
Independence Day.
Their families and
friends anxiously
await their return
home. Perhaps
this 4th of July
those young soldiers
fired a few rounds
into the night
desert sky. We
thank and honor them
because of their
willingness to
serve. Those of us
who served many 4ths
of July before, must
work both as
individuals
supporting one
soldier or one
veteran, or together
across the country
fixing the problems
of our Veterans
Administration, or
fighting for our
rights including
marriage. If you go
in harm's way to
serve your country,
you deserve all the
rights of
citizenship. By
honoring their
service, you give
honor to your own
service to America.
God speed you all
and God speed home
and back into our
arms those in
harm’s way.