July 4, 2016

The 4th of July is always bittersweet for me.  Stacey and I feel blessed to raise our children in such an amazing country, but are saddened by the sacrifices made by so many Americans in service to our country. 

On my mind today is 1LT Timothy Steele.  We served with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division in Kandahar, Afghanistan.  1LT Steele was leading a patrol in Kandahar when he got a bad feeling about a bridge up ahead. He stopped his men, and courageously without thought to his own life, went to check the area.  Taliban were lying in wait and set off an improvised explosive device or IED killing 1LT Steele.  He left behind a wife and young daughter named Liberty.  But he remains forever in my mind an example of the courage and sacrifice of so many men and women who put on the uniform to serve our country.

Above: Afghanistan in 2011 with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry). 

Our country began as a bold "experiment" on July 4, 1776 with the idea that the government shall only govern with consent of the governed.  This American experiment has been through many trials in our history.  Today this democracy rests in our hands to nurture and strength for the next generation.

On July 4, 1861, when America was engulfed in a terrible Civil War, Abraham Lincoln recalled that the meaning of American Independence Day, "is a struggle for maintaining in the world that form and substance of government whose leading object is to elevate the condition of men; to lift artificial weights from all shoulders; to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all; to afford all an unfettered start and a fair chance in the race of life."

Mahalo to all of our men and women who put on the uniform in service to our country and to those police, fire and EMS who serve our city. 

May God Bless you, your family and the United States of America.

Aloha,

Charles Djou