What 4th of July do you remember as the best?

CSM Charles Hayden — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 21:29:35 -0400

The 4th I most recall is being in Derby, KS for their small-town parade, fireworks display, bottle rockets, Roman candles and the fire crackers. My sons were young enough to really get into the 'spirit'!

As a side note, in high school in 1950, I was the 'man' for firecrackers. The local Chinese grocer gave me a pass to take to Oakland, CA's Chinatown which allowed me to buy firecrackers to retail at school!

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 2 at 2016 9:39 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 21:39:29 -0400

1992 Fort Benning, A true Soldier's Post and they threw one hell of a party. My favorite holiday by far.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Jul 2 at 2016 10:06 PM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 22:06:39 -0400

Derby, KS? One of my Dear Friends on FB Kelly Cook is a Substitute Teacher in Derby (Wichita, KS) otherwise I would never have heard of the place. That really is a small town.

Response by MAJ Rene De La Rosa made Jul 2 at 2016 10:18 PM

MAJ Rene De La Rosa — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 22:18:52 -0400

I have been fortunate to see fireworks at numerous places. The best fireworks, of course, are the Washington, DC located on the National Mall. A close second (tie?) would be the NYC fireworks on the East River. Ironically, the third place would be at State College, PA, home of Penn State University. They have the 5th most attended fireworks show in the nation!

Another to consider is the Louisville fireworks the weekend before the Kentucky Derby; they do them off the bridge for 30 minutes! Always wanted to see them.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Jul 2 at 2016 10:26 PM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 22:26:40 -0400

Probably the one in 1982 met a wonderful little person 2 days before, he weighed just about 5 lbs more than the Catfish I caught yesterday. Now he is about 5'11" and 265 not so cute but still good looking and he's given me 2 gorgeous Grandchildren. My Wee Baby Boy.

Response by MSgt Richard Rountree made Jul 2 at 2016 10:56 PM

MSgt Richard Rountree — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 22:56:15 -0400

I departed KFIA early in the morning of 4 Jul 1991 on a C-130 bound for RAF Mildenhall UK. Independence Day took on a new significance for me that day. I had to leave the AOR because my DEROS at RAF Alconbury UK was about 60 days away and I had to get back to pack and out-process. At the time I left KFIA, I had been the Executive Officer of the 354 TFW(P) ever since the 354 TFW rotated back to Myrtle Beach AFB shortly after the Desert Storm cease-fire. The USAF was also rotating colonels into the 354TFW(P) Commander slot every couple of weeks during the redeployment phase of Desert Storm. My job was essentially a walking, talking continuity book. for these commanders. The last 354TFW(P) Commander I worked for was a C-130 pilot. He arranged to be the pilot on a C-130 that was being redeployed back to the world. His route had a stop scheduled at RAF Mildenhall and he offered me a ride 'home.' We flew across Saudi Arabia, crossed the Red Sea, saw Cairo and the pyramids from the air, and landed in Crete to refuel. As soon as we landed, the 2 other passengers and I headed straight for the local NCO Club to get a cold beer to celebrate our "Independence Day" before we had to depart Crete. Imagine our great disappointment when we found the club closed...it wasn't scheduled to open for another hour! So we had to hurry back to the aircraft because we had a specific time slot to transit French airspace that we couldn't miss...we _had_ to leave on-time. We picked up a retiree traveling space-A from Crete and got airborne. We overflew Italy's boot, overflew France, saw the cliffs of Dover from the air and landed in RAF Mildenhall late in the afternoon. My wife and kids were there to greet me. The only detail that I can't seem to recall after all these years was the name of my boss who flew me home...I

Response by LTC Stephen C. made Jul 2 at 2016 11:45 PM

LTC Stephen C. — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 23:45:24 -0400

July 4, 1970 for me, CSM Charles Hayden. I was attending the Weapons NCO Supervisor Candidate Special Forces Course at Fort Bragg, NC. It was a Saturday, so we actually got the day off.

Response by TSgt Kenneth Ellis made Jul 2 at 2016 11:56 PM

TSgt Kenneth Ellis — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 23:56:27 -0400

The one I attended at Corinado in San Diego. The firewoirks went off all at once. And all the car alarms went off. When I was watching my favorite Show the Five. One of the cohost mentined it for there one more thing.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Jul 3 at 2016 12:55 AM

CAPT Kevin B. — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 00:55:00 -0400

It's the ones when I was a kid and fireworks were a thing of magic. My Dad would make a production out of getting just the right rockets. Our town was too small even for a parade so it was back yard time. Well he lit one off and it went up 10 feet, went horizontal, and flew into a pigeon hole in our neighbor's chicken coop. When it went off, it looked just like the cartoons we'd see on our B/W TV which got a whole two channels. Like I said, MAGIC. Feathers coming from everywhere.

A few days later, Dad was talking to the neighbor who was concerned about his chickens not laying eggs. Of course me asking "Dad, did that have anything to do with the rocket?" got me a quick hush up. The neighbor still never realized one went off inside the coop.

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Jul 2 at 2019 9:58 AM

SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 09:58:17 -0400

The ones that my wife and son rode in with me when I was in the Guard.

Response by SSG Carlos Madden made Jul 2 at 2019 9:58 AM

SSG Carlos Madden — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 09:58:58 -0400

A couple of years ago I was in Whitefish, MT and caught the fireworks on the lake. It was memorable because the sunlight was just barely setting over the mountains while the fireworks were going off. Being from New England, this was a first for me.

Response by CSM Richard StCyr made Jul 2 at 2019 4:46 PM

CSM Richard StCyr — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 16:46:35 -0400

I think 1980 was the absolute best I remember we just finished building my brothers place on Dalton Mountain ,we went to the parade at Whitefield, then had a huge BBQ up there and his house overlooks the Connecticut river valley, We saw the fireworks in towns as far away as St.Johnsbury and Lunenburg Vermont and Lancaster NH. pretty neat.