Here’s another:

I thought I might write to you to tell of how my idea of Independence Day has changed in the last year. One year ago, I was a civilian. I worked at a certain conservative non-profit in Alexandria, and generally did as I pleased in my free time.
Glorious, happy days of freedom!
I could change my clothes depending on what mood I was in. If I decided I wanted to hop in my car (I had a car!) and drive to another state, I would. In the event that I wanted to call a friend and have dinner with them, I could simply pull out my cell phone and set up the time and place — and on that note, I ate generally whatever I wanted, with no thought at all to the contents of the dish. My haircut was whatever I deemed to look decent; I grew a beard not unlike that of Mark Steyn. Since I was in my mid-twenties, I generally did not exercise — I depended on that wonderful metabolism of my youth to keep me looking fit.
Today, I am a proud member of the United States Air Force. I’m not about to tell anyone what I do, where I am, or anything else that has anything to do with my work, as that could potentially be a security risk. Free time, such as it is, is not quite free — I have to stay close to my place of work, just in case I am needed on short notice. I wear a uniform, which is not so bad — but the ability to choose what one looks like is a freedom that I know I took for granted…before. When I am working, I cannot carry any communication device. You see, cell phones these days can be remotely operated by a hostile individual — something like a pocket-dial — to listen in on wherever that phone may be (remember how Jason Bourne would always use prepaid cell phones? That’s part of why…). I eat a carefully controlled diet designed to make me perform at my highest level, both mentally and physically. My haircut consists of taking a pair of clippers and cutting it as short as possible — it saves time in the shower, and I have places I must be. I shave every morning, because I may have to get a good seal on my gas mask in under ten seconds — you never really know. I run between three and five miles a day, and I’m pushing that up to five-to-seven by the end of this year. I keep myself in shape because I owe that to my brothers and sisters in arms.
And more importantly, I owe that to you.
I was shocked, at first, to learn that freedom is best protected by people who willingly give up those extra bits of freedom that most people take for granted. Don’t get me wrong, I am still free for the most part; I haven’t given up much that I really miss. I guess the freedom I miss the most is the ability to be near my family at will. But they understand, as I do now, that I’m off earning my freedom — and theirs as well.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (or, in other places, written as “life, liberty, and property.”) But these rights are rarely given willingly — they are won by the sweat, tears, and sometimes blood of people willing to do anything to claim their birthright. And in the meantime, they give up what little independence they have, in order that they might gain a greater freedom. But only here in America have these people then volunteered to continue working, fighting, and sometimes dying, to ensure that their fellow citizens would remain independent.
So this Independence Day, whether you’re watching the fireworks (this do, as oft as ye light them, in remembrance of Francis Scott Key!), or grilling burgers with your family, remember those who gave you your freedom — and the God that sent them for that purpose.