It's that time.

Lock and load.

The Michael Vary Show is on the air.

It's Ramon.

About independence.

Webster defines independence as the fact or state of being independent.

Freedom from control, influence, support, aid, or the like of others.

Let us celebrate today Independence Day.

You no doubt know the stories.

Settlers on new land angry at their tyrannical ruler ruling from far away.

An active defiance.

A declaration of independence. fighting a bigger army with

the rag-tag squad, a general who was quickly losing his troops to injury, disease, famine,

and an uncertainty from their troops who would wonder if their leader was one worth following.

And of course, you remember the river crossing and the final battle that won the war

and changed the United States and her young history forever.

Nothing I can say now will give those heroes the proper respect

or those stories their proper context.

Those words are just beyond me.

How must it have finally felt after losing battles, finally, miraculously, winning, and

becoming your own country, gaining independence, able to govern your citizens as they see fit,

and not by the hand of some distant ruler

...