The Independence Day week is a time to reflect back. What was life in America like 273 years ago?

In those almost three centuries, many individuals have fought for the freedom that is sometimes taken for granted. The Murfreesboro Rotary Club heard from two of those patriots Tuesday (7/2/2013).

Robert Patty

Robert Patty was made a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow. This Special Forces soldier was making a parachute jump at Fort Campbell when the wind blew him into a tree. The chute released him and he fell to the ground, not to be found for several hours. By that time, his body chilled and he was in a comma. Fortunately, he recovered, but will never walk again.

Rotarian George Huddleston shared a moving story of how there are some tasks that Robert is no longer able to do and has to turn to others for help. It's life's simple things that we don't always appreciate until we see another who is unable to do them. Freedom is one of those fragile blessings.

When asked what America means to him, Patty said: 

Spencer Dixon

Murfreesboro resident Spencer Dixon was the featured speaker. He shared what it was like to handle scout dogs in the Vietnam War. The retired U.S. Army sergeant sadly told how the government looked at the canine simply as supplies, and when the troops were sent home only a few hundred of the approximately four-thousand Army dogs were not euthanized.

Dixon shared his thoughts about the Home of the Brave: 

Dixon earned three Bronze Stars, and later received his undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of Memphis. After Vietnam, he has worked with psychiatric patients, and also started the local POW group here many years ago. Dixon loves to offer a caring ear to hear war stories from this group of mostly from World War II veterans. He sadly noted an average of 670 of these American heroes die each day. Their median age is now 92.

Spencer is also remembered locally for emceeing the Veteran's Day ceremonies on the Murfreesboro square for almost three decades, along with the Memorial Day tribute at the Stones River Battlefield for many previous years.

As you think about the Fourth of July, remember--it's more than a day for cookouts and fireworks. It's the celebration of the birth of a great country that says all men are created equal, and are endowed with certain inalienable rights including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.