Amidst a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) resurgence, a nationwide confrontation on race and a historic economic crisis, this July 4th is more complicated than any I’ve experienced. America is the greatest country on Earth, though times like these remind us that we can always make it even better.
So blast some Springsteen, celebrate Independence Day, and enjoy these ‘Murica-loaded images celebrating the finest men and women who wear the flag.
Master Sgt. Dan, 301st Rescue Squadron Special Mission Aviator, looks at the camera inside an HH-60G Pave Hawk on May 30, 2020 at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. Special Missions Aviators perform essentially all other tasks other than piloting the aircraft, including acting as Flight Engineer, Loadmaster, Aerial Gunner, Navigator, Weapons System Specialist, Electronic Warfare Officer, Radio Operator, Sensor Operator and Combat Systems Officer. The 301st RQS, 920th Rescue Wing, operates the HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter, conducting both peacetime and combat search-and-rescue missions.
A F-117 Stealth Fighter from the 49th Fighter Wing, based at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, shows off its paint job during a March 12, 2008 refueling mission flown by the Columbus-based 121st Air Refueling Wing of the Ohio Air National Guard.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Sunny Qiu, machinist’s mate, spins the “ahead” throttle on the main throttle board in the main engineering spaces to slow down the number one engine aboard the amphibious transport dock ship USS Ponce (LPD 15), Sept 2, 2010. Qiu is also an artist, and painted Ponce’s main throttle board to look like the American flag. The Ponce is part of the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group and is bringing food, water, and heavy-lift equipment to support humanitarian relief efforts for flood victims in Pakistan.
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U.S. Air Force 14th Airlift Squadron Major Franklin Culick’s headset is decorated with artwork of a hand making a peace sign with an American flag, Feb. 13, 2020. C-17 Globemaster III aircrews perform local training to improve and maintain their abilities to operate their aircrafts in a wide-range of scenarios.
The 7-foot statue, “Beneath our Flag” by Athabascan artist James S. Grant Sr., stands prominently at the entrance of Bassett Army Community Hospital in Fort Wainwright, the only Army hospital in Alaska. Hand-crafted with aircraft aluminum, the statue embodies the hospital motto, ‘Above All We Care,’ with its portrayal of a soldier being steadied and helped to his feet by an Army medic on the battle field.
These brothers, the children of a Sky Soldier jumping in the D-Day Commemorative jump, enthusiastically wave their flags as their father from the 173rd Airborne Brigade descends on to Iron Mike Drop Zone near Sainte Mere Eglise, France, June 3, 2018.
Pfc. Alexander Cesario of Somerville, N.J., a forward observer with A Company, Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, displays his father Adam’s American flag on a rooftop in Baghdad’s Suleikh neighborhood, Dec. 27, 2007. As a Soldier in Vietnam, the elder Cesario flew the flag every day – including a three day period that he was missing in action -and his son now carries it with him on patrols in Iraq.
Two SH-60F Seahawks, assigned to the “Indians” of Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron (HS) 6, precede a formation of aircraft assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 11 during a Tiger Cruise air power demonstration aboard nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), Pacific Ocean, Sept. 26, 2007.
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Coast Guardsmen aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Adak (WPB-1333) raise the American flag. Adak is assigned to CTF 55, supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.
A U.S. Soldier from the 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) holds an American Flag outside of a C-130 Hercules at Yokota Air Base, Japan, during the Japanese-American Friendship Festival Sept. 7, 2014. Paratroopers jumped from a C-130 as part of an aerial demonstration.
