June 28, 2026 Editor, The News-Gazette: I’m told that on Saturday a big national celebration will take place. That’s not quite true. There won’t be single celebration — there will be thousands. Let’s count.
How about the name of our great land? It is the United States. Plural. Our 50 states were formed out of 13 British colonies by an idea, the same one contained in the English Magna Carta of freedoms in 1215. Then 561 years later, others, including a couple of men named Tom, a Mr. Paine who had common sense, and a Mr. Jefferson who had a way with words, took pen and ink in hand. The ink became blood; the pen formed a new nation.
Then we discovered that 50 was not nearly big enough to give everyone the basic choice of whether to live free or die. So we created 90,837 different local forms of government. (That was the count in 2022.) This was done on the basis of the genius of small, when something becomes big by having many small parts.
No, I’m not referring to building a car, rather I’m thinking of the Fourth of July. Think of every locality with kids on decorated bikes, or all those flags stuck on mail boxes, or those sparklers in your neighbor’s backyard. Need I add the beauty of the small towns in our area?
Yes, my friends, it’s all about peace and freedom. We are free because we have so many small choices in our daily lives. And sorry, Mr. Jefferson, happiness is more than a pursuit. It stems from internal peace. Our 1776 Declaration of Independence did not give us any such feeling. Instead it gave us a bloody five-year war. What we needed was some order to go with our new light of freedom, And we got it 11 years later — the US Constitution! I’ll die a happy American when Sept. 17, 1787, shares equal billing with July 4,1776. Meanwhile, I’ll settle for whatever money is in my pocket. “In God We Trust” shall do it. DAVID REYNOLDS Rockbridge County.
