Loved this picture from the front page of The Portland Tribune, a local paper.

No caption need for this headlined "Patriots come In All Stripes" but the caption supplied is especially poignant:

Mackenzie Fraser, 8, sings the national anthem at an activation ceremony last week for the Oregon National Guard’s 41st Brigade Combat Team. Her father, Maj. Robert Fraser, left for Afghanistan the next day.

I see guardsmen headed up I-5 to McChord AFB for deployment to the Mideast/Fareast with some regularity. I give them a wave as I pass and wish them Godspeed. Talked with a woman in Reno a couple of weeks ago who's nephew was regular Army on duty in Northern Iraq and she said he was having a hard time of it. I hope I made her feel better by telling her that he was drawing comfort from their last visit together. She had told him he was going to be all right and would be coming home safe.

I'm sure proud of what we've got here in the USA and what we're doing to share it. Happy Fourth everyone!