Via Fox News:
Today America commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the event leading to the birth of our nation, with parades and fireworks displays. But since that world-changing moment of 1776, patriots have sacrificed not just to free the colonies from British oppression, but to see that our nation’s people remain free, and to do what they can to extend those liberties. Sacrifice on behalf of others, in fact, is what comes to mind when I think about the Fourth of July.
My handsome father, Clebe McClary, wears a patch where his left eye used to be, and his left sleeve hangs empty. Only two of his remaining fingers work because of shrapnel fragments embedded in his right hand. Though some might expect him to complain about these injuries sustained in the Vietnam War, I’ve never heard him do so. Instead, Daddy uses his challenges as a platform to encourage people and sums up his war experience this way: “You’ve never lived until you’ve nearly died.”
Daddy walks in gratitude for every day God has given him, and he’s taught me to do the same. He loves our country, and he is proud to have fought for her. From my earliest memories, he has refused to accept that he lost his left arm and eye. “You only lose something when you don’t know where it is,” the argument goes. He feels he gave pieces of his body on Hill 146 in Vietnam, offering them in service to our great nation in hopes of spreading the freedom she represents.
While I was growing up, my parents made it a point to remind my sister Christa and me of the similar sacrifices that red stripe on our flag memorializes. As we stood at attention for the presentation of America’s colors and the singing of the anthem at sporting events, we pressed our right hands over our chests and concentrated on the thump of our little hearts beating against our palms. “Remember,” Mother and Daddy whispered as we settled back into our seats, “there are thousands of soldiers whose hearts no longer beat so that your’s can.”