Happy Birthday America

Well, according to our calendars, today is America's 231st birthday. Happy Birthday to the greatest country on earth!

This past week has been quite an interesting on here in the Minneapolis area. Just last weekend we lost a true "American Hero" - Charles Lindberg. No, not the guy that is famous for the plane, the kidnapped baby, etc., but the "other" Charles Lindberg. You see, this Charles is actually a well-known hero throughout the ranks of the Marines, and many of their recruits are educated about him.

Charles was the last, living survivor of the flag raising at Iwo Jima. But don't look at the famous picture and try to figure out which one is him - you won't. Contrary to very popular belief, the picture that we all know so well is actually the "second" flag raising. The first raising happened when Charles and a few other Marines raised the flag to let the troops down below know that they had captured that fateful hill and it was safe to proceed. Charles was interviewed by several of the tv stations around here during the Memorial Weekend, and he said it sounded like a "growing wave of shouting" when the troops saw the flag.

Those four men the took their flag down and as they were, the four other Marines started to raise a much bigger flag - and that is the picture we are most familiar with. Another interesting note, the second flag raising almost never was. A photographer just happened to be swinging his camera around and this picture was actually an "accident" as he hit the shutter. He wasn't even looking through it! Yet through all of that, we have some of our preserved history.

Today is a celebration: of life, of freedom, and many other things. But I would encourage any of you who read this, please take a moment and thank our troops. If you see someone in uniform, make an effort to go out of your way to say "Thank you". It doesn't cost you a dime, and you never know, you may actually be coming in contact with the next "Charles Lindberg".

--Brian