bombeidarrell
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read

“Independence Day”

On Independence Day, Americans celebrate the birth of our nation, pay tribute to our nation’s founders, and honor the sacrifices made by our veterans, soldiers, and their families.

We want to thank all those who served over the years to defend our nation, and their families that sacrificed on the home front. We also want to honor our family members for their service to our nation.

Our family has had many family members through the generations that have served our nation. Terri and I served in the United States Navy. These photos include just a few of our family members that have served and some that are currently serving. Our family tree is loaded with patriots.

One of my retirement hobbies has been researching my ancestry. This has led to many discoveries of ancestors that have fought in many of our nation's conflicts. There have been multiple ancestors that fought in the French Indian War, The Revolutionary War, The War of 1812, on both sides in The Civil War, The Spanish American War, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War and The War in Iraq. They served in Colony Militias, Continental Regiments, and all branches of our nation’s armed services. We currently have men and women serving on active duty today. We also have men and women that support our Nation’s National Defense after their active-duty military service was completed.

We have had ancestors that have been wounded during these conflicts to fight for our nation. One of our ancestors was wounded in the Revolutionary War while serving as a bodyguard for George Washington. There was a 2nd Great Grandfather who was wounded fighting for the Indiana 86th Infantry during the Civil War. There also was a 3rd Great Grandfather who died from his wounds fighting for the 48th North Carolina Infantry during the Civil War. We can only imagine the hardships that these ancestors faced during these conflicts that help shape our nation.

As a youth, it was mesmerizing listening to my dad’s uncle, Tom Little tell of his combat service during World War II in Europe. Then the story of my dad’s cousin, Jon “Jack” Little harrowing adventure when he had to punch out of his U-2R at 60,000 feet over the Gulf of Siam. If only we could sit with our ancestors, hear the stories they could tell, and their convictions that led them to take up arms to defend our nation.

With our family having so many men and women serve our nation through its long history, as you can imagine we are very proud of our American Heritage. We continue to support our men and women serving now. From Terri’s family and my family, we have well over 50 men and women that have or are serving in our Nations Armed Forces.

To all of them, we say thank you and Happy Independence Day.