In Honor of Explosions

Independence Day has really lost much of its meaning over the years. Now we celebrate our country's birth with mattress sales and lighting off explosives. Since I already purchased a mattress, I might as well remember one of the greatest firework our country has ever let off for freedom.

I am not certain where this newspaper clipping came from, but it has been floating around in my collection of ephemera for years. The fact that it isn't an actual photograph of Hiroshima makes it even more ominous in my mind; Instead we are presented with an artist rendering of the aftermath further removing the American citizenry from the destruction unleashed that August day.

I wish I had the entire article. But unfortunately, I only have this clipping and the gleanings I can get from the tops of columns. 

As I sit listening to my neighbors and numerous others let off fireworks through the city at this late hour, making it sound like a small war zone of drunken revelry, I have to think about some of the losses. What was the 4th of July like for my grandparents when they were locked away in what was essentially a prison camp for American citizens who committed no crimes? I have no real idea, nor are they around to ask.

Happy Independence Day.