Clay Aiken Rewinds Set Tone for July 4 Festivities

CAPITOL 4th REWIND - Montage by Yollie950 replays a medley of Clay Aiken's 2004 PBS performance, including the Star-Spangled Banner, Measure of a Man, and God Bless the USA. The video can also be viewed at YouTube.

US Celebrates Independence Day

Concert Replays Honor July 4

As Canada and the USA celebrate national birthdays this weekend, Clay Aiken fans may also include a rewind to Independence Days past when the singer performed for Capitol 4th (2004) and launched a 20-city Summer Symphony Tour at Freedom Fest in Frisco, TX (2007).

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

In Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, the United States of America On was born as the Second Continental Congress adopted the final draft of the Declaration of Independence.

President John Adams said the Fourth of July should be celebrated with, among other events, "pomp, parade, games, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other.

Taking President Adams at his word, link to Fireworks Pop by clicking on the photo below where you can create your own "illuminations" in the sky above Lady Liberty with your mouse.

Click on this show to create your own fireworks!

Fans Recall 2007 Frisco Festivities

For CA fans, Independence Day will forevermore be associated with the 2007 Freedom Fest in Frisco, TX, opening performance of the summer tour also known as Soft Rock Hard Place. The festivities included food, fun, fireworks and a "hawt" Clay Aiken Concert.

Anniversaries of events from Clay's singing career are marked in various fashions. In 2008, xxx4clay reminisced about July 4, 2007, and then posed the question to her online friends: Where were you a year ago today?

A host of memories were shared not only by those who endured every degree of the humid, 90-plus temps in the Frisco soccer stadium, but also those who listened via cellstream in air-conditioned comfort. Beginning with xxx4clay, here are a some of the Independence Day 2007 recollections:

Prior to this concert, we knew very little about what Clay would sing although the speculators amongst us had run amok with their possible scenarios.

That afternoon someone had listened to the rehearsal and some of that info had drifted back to us but still, the lack of knowledge just added to the excitement.

Finally, finally, finally, Clay entered the stage singing “Here You Come Again.” There really are no words to describe what I felt at that moment.

It was beyond exciting. Beyond mesmerizing. And he was soooo close. That crowd let loose with a collective squeal that I can still hear to this day.

All those heat related miseries just disappeared when Clay showed his face and I never gave it another minute's thought until the concert was over.

There’s just something about the first concert of the tour and not knowing everything that’s gonna happen that makes it very, very special.

FREEDOM FEST - Graphic by Amazing_CA, photos by Farouche.

These responses represent a cross-section of the many who gathered in Texas or listened from afar on Independence Day 2007:

IRISHBOOKGAL: Right here with my headphones on listening to a beautiful voice that gives me goose bumps.

SMARTYPANTSSUZ: Glued to my computer drinking in every morsel I could through the cellstream and recaps. What a night!

JCLAY: Basking in the afterglow of my very first Meet & Greet. It was the first of the "sit down with all of you and talk for 1/2 hour" variety.

WINDSTAR2: I was also in Frisco right in the middle of the screaming teenagers. What a great night that was to be with fellow Clay friends, to see Clay again live in concert and in TEXAS!

ANAMERIAIKENINTX: I'd bet anything the Frisco temperature was pushing 100 before the humidity was factored in! The weather was terrible. I forgot all about it, too, while Clay was with us.

PLAYBILLER: Deep in the heart of Texas!

PHOTO INTERLUDE: From seasons past, the fandom's visual artists have created clickable patriotic graphics for this weekend's fireworks. Included are designs by A Beautiful Mind, photo by Invisible926, 1; Ashes, 2; Amazing_CA, photos by Farouche, 3; CLAYPERFECT, 4; Fountaindawg, 5; and fivegoldens, 6.

Wishing all a very special July 4 Weekend!

Caro

Memorial Day: A Time To Honor America's Heroes

Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC.

Clay Aiken Sings 'God Bless the USA'

Remembering America's Heroes

The National Moment of Remembrance encourages all Americans to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence to remember and honor those who have died in service to the nation.

As Moment of Remembrance founder Carmella LaSpada states: "It's a way we can all help put the memorial back in Memorial Day."

On Memorial Days past, I have featured a 1963 interview with John M. Steele, the paratrooper who landed on a church steeple in St. Mere Eglise, France, during the D-Day invasion of Normandy June 6, 1944.

I was a 20-year-old college junior writing news and features for the Wilmington Morning Star the summer I interviewed the local war hero whose experience had recently been included in the movie, The Longest Day.

The story about Pvt. Steele missing the drop zone, landing on the church steeple, and playing dead for hours before German soldiers searching for cigarettes realized he was alive can be read in the 2010 Memorial Day blog: America Honors Military Heroes.

John Steele steeple monument in Ste. Mere Eglise, France.

Memorial Day Originally Decoration Day

Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans - the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) - established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers.

Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country. The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

To read the complete history, link to the WECT Wilmington website.

The Internet is overflowing with commemorative images marking the day America pays tribute to those who have served and sacrificed for their country. The four used in this blog are from CLIPish and can be shared via iPhones and other smart phones.

America Salutes Those Who Served

At graveside ceremonies, parades, concerts, and other festivities in Washington, DC, and throughout the nation, America this weekend pays tribute to those who have served and sacrificed for their country.

The National Memorial Day Parade, an annual tradition of remembrance with patriotic marches and floats in Washington, DC, is slated for 2 p.m. Monday. The 2011 event will be televised live to US service members around the world. Memorial Day Parades in other locations are listed here.

At 11 a.m. today, President Barack Obama laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in a traditional ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery

Patriotic music is an important part of Memorial Day observances. Sunday's National Memorial Day Concert on the west lawn of the US Capitol featured dramatic readings, documentary footage, and live performances. Check your PBS station for rebroadcast times.

Clay Aiken performs "God Bless the USA" at 2004 Concert.
Graphic by Ashes links to the video on YouTube.

At 3 p.m. local time, according to the 2000 National Moment of Remembrance Act passed to emphasize the meaning of Memorial Day, all Americans should "voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a moment of remembrance and respect.'"

On Memorial Day, we honor the John M. Steeles of our lives. Have a very special Memorial Day!

Caro

US Celebrates Veterans Around the World

VETERANS DAY: Honoring All Who Served. Click to enlarge.

All Who Served, Past and Present

America Remembers Veterans

A Veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a check made payable to "The United States of America," for an amount of "up to and including my life." - Author Unknown

At home and halfway around the world, in commemorative ceremonies, speeches, parades, and traditional laying of wreaths, America's leaders and citizens are today honoring the nation's 22 million veterans, soldiers wounded or killed in battle, soldiers home and abroad, and their families.

In South Korea for the G-20 economic summit, President Barack Obama saluted the bravery of US troops who fought in the Korean War, recognizing 62 veterans of the 1950s conflict in an army installation in Seoul, South Korea. The President also recognized Korean soldiers who fought alongside American forces.

At 11 a.m. Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, delivering remarks at the Memorial Amphitheater afterwards.

First Lady Greets Troops in Germany

En route back to Washington, First Lady Michelle Obama surprised a group of US servicemen and women based at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, to help serve a special Veterans Day meal. Earlier, she met with wounded troops recovering at the nearby Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, which regularly receives casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, Dr. Jill Biden. the vice president's wife, joined active-duty military, veterans, and military families at a volunteer event in Washington, D.C., with the Service Nation’s Mission Serve initiative.

Thursday she will make brief remarks and join veterans and other volunteers to work on landscaping and painting of the final two homes of a development at a Habitat for Humanity housing site in Northeast Washington’s Deanwood neighborhood.

Dr. Biden and the First Lady helped kick off the Mission Serve Initiative on Veterans Day 2009 as part of their ongoing work to encourage Americans to show service members, veterans, and military families appreciation for their service.

92nd Anniversary of Armistice Day

In 1919, then President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day, the end of World War I:

To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations …

Armistice Day, also celebrated as Remembrance Day and Poppy Day in other Allied countries, took effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918.

The United States first recognized Nov. 11 as a day to honor veterans in 1938, the 20th anniversary of the official end of World War I. A movement arose in the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War to expand the holiday to honor all veterans instead of only those from the first world war.

In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, himself a distinguished World War II veteran, signed a document to rename Armistice Day to Veterans Day. Except for seven years during the Vietnam War, when the holiday was observed on the last Monday of November, it has been observed on Nov. 11.

'All We Can Do Is Remember'

President Ronald Reagan spoke these words on another Veterans Day:

It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country, in defense of us, in wars afar away.

The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray-haired.

But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives, the one they were living and the one they would have lived.

When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers and veterans. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for our country, for us. And all we can do is remember.

Clay Aiken's performance of God Bless the USA at the 2004 Capitol Fourth is fitting for this November patriotic day.

Clay Aiken sings 'God Bless the U.S.A.' at the 2004 Capitol 4th.

For links and information regarding the National Inclusion Project's ongoing campaign to secure a $50,000 Pepsi Refresh grant this month, see the Carolina blog's Nov. 8 and Nov. 4 entries.

Thank you to veterans past and present. God Bless the USA!

Caro

America Honors Military Heroes

Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC.

Clay Aiken Sings 'God Bless the U.S.A.'

Remembering John M. Steele

'Longest Day' Is Vivid Memory

The longest day has been immortalized in books and on the movie screen. The biggest day in World War II also lives wherever John M. Steele is.

June 6, 1944, D-Day for the Allied invasion of Normandy, is portrayed in the parade of autographed pictures, newspaper/magazine articles, medals and documents that line the walls of a special room in the Wilmingtonian's home.

That was the headline and lead for a feature I wrote for the Wilmington Morning Star in 1963 about one of 13,000 paratroopers dropped into France during the D-Day invasion. Like many, Private Steele missed the drop zone and was carried over the town of Sainte-Mere-Eglise where his chute caught on a church steeple when he tried to steer away from a burning building.

At the Washington premiere of the 1962 movie The Longest Day, John met Red Buttons who portrayed him in the film. "Thanks a lot, John," the actor quipped. You got me four days of work with 20th Century!"

"He's a nice guy and a real character!" the original steeple climber said with a grin.

Pvt. Steele (third from right) and team prior to D-Day invasion.

In the first hour of the invasion, Steele hit the church roof and slid down, his chute wrapping around the spire. When he tried to free himself, pain shot through his leg and his combat knife clattered to the street below.

With the battle raging all around him, the trooper wisely decided to play dead and dangled on the spire for 2 1/2 hours. Later, a group of German soldiers, intent on stripping the "body" of cigarettes and other rations, discovered he was still alive and took him prisoner.

Three days later during an American tank attack, he and another wounded soldier leaped through a window and escaped to friendly lines. Following two weeks in an English hospital, Pvt. Steele returned to the war and was among those who broke through to Bastogne where the 101st was surrounded in the Battle of the Bulge.

For these actions and his wounds, the soldier was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor and the Purple Heart.

I especially remember John Steele and The Longest Day on Memorial Day. When I interviewed him the summer before my junior year in college, he had cancer and was planning to enter a veterans administration hospital for cobalt treatments.

John Steele monument in Ste. Mere Eglise, France.

According to his bio at Wikepedia, he died on May 16, 1969, in Fayetteville, just two weeks short of the 25th anniversary of D-Day.

An honorary citizen of the first village liberated by the Americans in June 1946, John (I'm pretty sure I called him "Mr. Steele" in '63) visited Ste. Mere-Eglise several times before his death. His story is commemorated in the Airborne Forces Museum in the center of town.

National Symphony Orchestra in concert. (Capitol Concerts photo)

Events Salute Those Who Served

At graveside ceremonies, parades, concerts, and other festivities in Washington, DC, and throughout the nation, America this weekend pays tribute to those who have served and sacrificed for their country.

Featuring the National Symphony, a mix of dramatic readings, documentary footage, and live musical performances, the National Memorial Day Concert is slated for 8 p.m. ET Sunday on the west lawn of the US Capitol.

The concert, which will be broadcast on PBS stations live and in an immediate rerun, will also be seen overseas by US military personnel in more than 175 countries and aboard more than 200 US Navy ships at sea on the American Forces Radio and Television Network.

The National Memorial Day Parade, an annual tradition of remembrance with patriotic marches and floats in Washington, DC, is slated for 2 p.m. Monday. The 2010 event, which will include a special tribute to the US Marine Corps, will be televised live to US service members around the world.

On Monday, Vice-President Joe Biden will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.

At 3 p.m. local time, according to the 2000 National Moment of Remembrance Act passed to emphasize the meaning of Memorial Day, all Americans should "voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a moment of remembrance and respect.'"

Clay Aiken performs "God Bless the USA" at 2004 concert.
Graphic by Ashes links to the video on YouTube.

On Memorial Day, we honor the John M. Steeles of our lives. Have a very special Memorial Day Weekend!

Caro