Henry J. Stern
July 3, 2007

We call your attention to the fact , of which you are probably aware, that tomorrow, July 4, 2007, will be the 231st anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 
 
Most countries have a national day, celebrating their independence, or their liberation, or their first autonomous government.  France's national day, for example, is Bastille Day, commemorating the storming of the Bastille prison on July 14, 1789.  Canada observes July 1 as Canada Day, the day the British North American Act forming the Dominion  took effect in 1867.  Israel's national day is the fifth of Iyyar, which varies from late April to May under the solar calendar.  It commemorates Israel's declaring itself independent at the conclusion of the British mandate on May 14, 1948. Mexico, a festive nation, observes two holidays. Independence Day on September 16, when in 1810 Miguel Hidalgo appealed for a revolution and independence from Spain,  and Cinco de Mayo (May 5), celebrating the defeat of the Emperor Maximilian (Napoleon's nephew) in 1862 at Puebla.  The former emperor was executed in Mexico in 1867.
 
In past years, The New York Times has printed a scripted copy of the Declaration of Independence on the last page of its July 4 edition. The Declaration is well worth reading, at least once a year, word for word, both as a primary historical source, and as an exceptionally literate document.. After reading it, one can reflect on its application today.  BTW, in contrast to today's custom, the words of Hamilton, Jay, Madison and Jefferson were not written for them by staff.  Not that there is anything wrong with staff (I was one years ago.), but the founding fathers wrote beautifully themselves..
 
The Fourth of July is an appropriate time for us to think of our good fortune in living in this country.  In a troubled world of almost 200 nations, ours is outstanding  in many ways.  Some parts of our lives are better than others; some aspects of our country are better than others; that is the human condition. The United States of America is a nation criticized by other countries whose citizens seek to become our immigrants.  We are not always in the right, but I believe that on balance, we are pretty good.  I do know that we are a place where tens of millions of people in other countries would like to live.  America's migration issues concern people who want to get in, not to get out.  They can depart at will.
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A PERSONAL STORY;  If my father had not been able to enter this country when he left from Germany in 1926, (Seven years before Hitler came to power, Jews were expelled from the German Boy Scouts.) and if my mother's parents had not come over at the turn of the century from a shtetl in what is now Belarus, my family would not have survived the devastation of the mid-20th century.  I am grateful that they were accepted here, and sorry that not everyone who sought to flee Nazi terror was admitted to the United States.  Public anti-immigration sentiment was stronger in Roosevelt's time than it is today, and it mattered relatively little whether or not the immigrants were educated.  Fortunately, we took Albert Einstein just before the war, and we snatched  Dr. Werner von Braun right after World War II to help us build rockets.
 
While I was Parks Commissioner, I attended a reception at the German consulate, and met a decent and honorable German official named Bernard von der Planitz.  (His park name was Spaceman.)  von der Planitz asked about my family and I told him about my father coming to this country as a 20-year-old from Frankfurt to study American business methods, but never returning . The diplomat asked me if we spoke German at home, and I said 'No.'  He asked why, and I said, being polite as I could be,  "It was my father.  He had a grievance."   The consul listened, reflected, and responded with equal courtesy,   "I can see that."
 
That understated conversation summed up for me the blessings of America.  We are alive because it took us in.  We owe this country the highest degree of loyalty.  We may not like some elected officials, but we know 1) that they were, in fact, elected by the people, and 2)in a fixed time we will have the opportunity to remove them.   We also appreciate the fact that, in this country, I had the opportunity to run for office, and even get elected twice.  That would not have happened in Europe, even if I had not been murdered with my family.
 
During World War II, there was a popular song written by Earl Robinson and Lewis Allan,  "The House I Live In" .The young Frank Sinatra sang it in 1945, and it became an anthem.  Here are the lyrics:



#390  7.03.07  810wds