America Celebrates Mindful Yet Joyous 227th Birthday
URL:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,91114,00.html
Friday, July 04, 2003
NEW YORK — America celebrated its 227th birthday amid fewer security jitters compared to last year, when the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were fresh in many minds.
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In 2002, unprecedented security patrolled cities across the country, but Friday's party was somewhat less guarded, although bomb-sniffing dogs and a heavy police presence were still felt.
"We've already gone through one Fourth of July. There's a more relaxed atmosphere," New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
New York police planned to patrol city streets with about 7,000 officers, slightly fewer than last year but about 4,200 more than on a normal weekend. Police said they had received no particular threats to New York City over the holiday weekend, but still were deploying "Hercules" teams to deter potential terrorists, as well as portable radiation detectors and equipment to sniff out chemical weapons.
Baltimore raised its alert status Thursday to its second highest level, mostly as a practice run, officials said, while the federal terror alert status remained unchanged at yellow, the middle of the five-color scale.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security (search) earlier this week issued an information bulletin for the Fourth of July to state and local governments, as well as to law enforcement, Fox News has learned.
The bulletin states that there is "no specific credible information identifying terrorist intentions to conduct attacks against Independence Day celebrations or related events."
In Dayton, Ohio, President Bush climbed a flag-draped stage flanked by military jets to praise the work of U.S. troops and mark the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight. Wilbur and Orville Wright (search) invented and developed the airplane in their hometown of Dayton and made their first flight near Kitty Hawk, N.C., in December 1903.
"Today and everyday, the people of this land are grateful for their freedom, and we are proud to call ourselves citizens of the United States of America," Bush told a cheering crowd on a tarmac at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
The president made a special tribute to U.S. troops serving their country.
"For more than two centuries, Americans have been called to serve and sacrifice for ideals of our founding, men and women of our military have never failed us.
"Today we honor the current generation of our military, which has answered the call to defend our freedom and bring freedom to others."
Later at the White House, Bush watched the fireworks on the National Mall. He was joined by friends invited by first lady Laura Bush to mark the president's 57th birthday. The president was born on July 6.
Americans were also reminded of the 150,000 troops stationed in Iraq as news of more attacks crossed the ocean. At least 16 U.S. troops were injured Friday when insurgents ambushed a convoy on a highway north of Baghdad, the military said. Another American soldier was shot and killed in a separate incident.
At Forbes Field in Topeka, Kan., parents, spouses and children of 135 National Guard soldiers found one better way to celebrate: hugging their loved for the first time since the soldiers left for Iraq five months ago.
Anecita Hudson, whose son was a POW in Iraq, began celebrating the holiday Wednesday at Fort Bliss, Texas, where Army Spc. Joseph Hudson and other former POWs received medals for bravery. The Hudsons were back in their hometown of Alamogordo, N.M., for the Fourth of July.
"Here in America, I really see that people are happy on the Independence Day," Anecita Hudson said. "It's really kind of overwhelming to see them all celebrating."
Chicago got a jump on the holiday, shooting off its fireworks extravaganza Thursday night to the "1812 Overture" before a crowd of 1.2 million people at the edge of Lake Michigan.
In southern California, spectators gathered for fireworks shows at the Hollywood Bowl, the Queen Mary and other venues in the Los Angeles area. The Rose Bowl's display saw its reputation as the region's most dazzling challenged by a show in Carson, Calif., that claimed to have more firepower.
In the nation's birthplace, Philadelphia leaders honored the first female Supreme Court justice, Sandra Day O'Connor, with the city's Liberty Medal for embodying the founding principles of the nation.
O'Connor also joined jazz man Wynton Marsalis, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and others in opening the new National Constitution Center.
The new $185 million center holds the first public printings of the Constitution, an inkwell Abraham Lincoln used in signing the Emancipation Proclamation (search) and exhibits recalling the many controversies that have tested the Constitution in its history, including tickets to President Andrew Johnson's 1868 impeachment trial and a lock pick from the Watergate burglary.
O'Connor and the other celebrities got a scare during the ceremony when a heavy frame crashed onto the stage as they pulled ribbons to reveal a mural. Three people, including Philadelphia's mayor and the museum's president, were treated for minor injuries.
In Webster Groves, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis, a 6-year-old girl was killed after she fell from a parade float and was run over by the vehicle. The child, Emily Lemcke, died shortly after 2 p.m., a hospital spokeswoman said.
In Dearborn, Mich., home to one of the nation's largest concentrations of people with roots in the Middle East, turmoil overseas heightened the importance of this Independence Day for many.
"Independence," said Shane Safawi, who emigrated from Lebanon in 1988 and became a U.S. citizen about five years later. "The word itself means a lot. You are free. The whole country is free. It is a moment that you celebrate. |
