Freedom Is Golden ...

"I believe with all my heart that standing up for America means standing up for the God who has so blessed our land."   
                             ~ Ronald Reagan
                                     ~ 1911-2004
  ~ 40th President of the United States of America
                                     ~ 1981-1989 

A gold rush of beauty gilds the night sky at the 2015 Fourth of July Fireworks set off from
J. Birney Crum Stadium, Allentown, Pennsylvania, illuminating the truth that freedom is golden.

How wonderful it would be to have fireworks - and the fire of patriotism - in our hearts every day!

  

Of Soldiers And Sailors ...

"Freedom is the last best hope of earth."

                               ~ Abraham Lincoln

                                                         ~ 1809-1865

                                ~ 16th President of the United States

                                                          ~ 1861-1865

Valor is celebrated as the Soldiers and Sailors Monument stands in 

the heart of downtown Allentown, Pennsylvania a few days before

Veteran's Day 2015. The statue of a rebel Confederate soldier (second from left) stands

beside a Union soldier with the phrase "One Flag, One Country" imprinted beneath them.

The rebel soldier was included on the monument as a gesture of reconciliation when

it was erected in 1899, only three decades after the Civil War, or the

War Between The States.  It is reportedly the only municipal monument in the North

honoring a Confederate soldier.

An inscription reads: "This column commemorates the valor and patriotism of the

Soldiers and Sailors of the County of Lehigh in the War of 1861-65." 

Confetti Sky ...

"America ! America ! God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
... America ....!"

                                                         ~"America The Beautiful"
                                                                 ~ 1910
                                                                ~ Lyrics by Katharine Lee Bates,
                                                                    Music composed by Samuel A. Ward

Festive fireworks festoon the summer sky like confetti
as if to say, "Bravo, America!" during the 2015 Fourth of July
Fireworks set off from J. Birney Crum Stadium,
Allentown, Pennsylvania.

How wonderful it would be to have fireworks - and the fire of patriotism -
in our hearts every day!

As the fireworks ended I heard a little boy say "Bravo!"
I couldn't have said it better myself. 

Red Hots ...

"May the sun in his course visit no land more free,
more happy, more lovely than this our own country!"
                                                   ~ Daniel Webster
                                                                       ~ 1782-1852

Red hot fireworks paint the sweet fire of patriotism
in the summer sky during the 2015 Fourth of July
Fireworks set off from J. Birney Crum Stadium,
Allentown, Pennsylvania.

How wonderful it would be to have fireworks - and the fire
of patriotism - in our hearts every day!

As the fireworks ended I heard a little boy say
"Bravo!" I couldn't have said it better myself. 

Bedazzling Freedom ...

"It is the love of country that has lighted and that keeps glowing
the holy fire of patriotism."
                                                   ~ J. Horace McFarland
                                                                               ~1859-1948

A burst of patriotic beauty fills the night sky
during the 2015 Fourth of July Fireworks set off from
J. Birney Crum Stadium, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

How wonderful it would be to have fireworks - and the
fire of patriotism - in our hearts every day! 

As the fireworks ended, I heard a little boy say "Bravo!"
I couldn't have said it better myself. 

Patriotism ...

"Patriotism! There is magic in the word.
It is bliss to repeat it."
                          ~ Archbishop John Ireland
                                              1838-1918

The American flag waves proudly in the
evening sun in May at 
Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.