by Alison Bowler

Created on: July 14, 2008   Last Updated: November 28, 2008

First let me state I am English and have never even visited the United States. So why would I celebrate the Fourth of July? Well at the time I was working for the UK armed services at a base in Central London. We were a medical unit and frequently had a number of allied exchange officers working with us.

It was mid June and I was pinning up a notice on our entertainments board when I was approached by our latest addition, a major from Texas called Kenny. He wanted to know why we had nothing arranged for the Fourth of July. I had to explain that we did not celebrate all the wars we had won and definitely not the ones we lost.

Still Kenny wanted to organise a barbecue and so we obliged. On that bright sunny Saturday our social club bar was decorated with the stars and stripes, tables set up outside covered with white table cloths with red and blue napkins. Kenny was sorting out the barbecue our normal two grills had been supplemented by an oil drum split in half, fitted with metal grills and supported by sturdy x-frames. Our American major decided he would supply the meat and was surrounded by large cooler boxes ready for the onslaught of hungry personnel and their families. One of these half oil drums was used for cooking potatoes while one of the smaller grills was used for vegetarian foods. Our chefs had supplied a variety of salads to supplement Kenny's barbecue.

As people started to arrive additions to the Stars and Stripes were made, flags from every country seemed to be there. The Union Flag (after all we were in the United Kingdom) Australia, New Zealand, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka along with the flags of many of Caribbean, African and European Countries made a colourful and patriotic display. Kenny ran the huge barbecue, politely refusing any help, calmly and efficiently feeding over two hundred people.

The afternoon saw us organising an intercontinental Volley Championship. Kenny was joined by several officers who were made honorary Americans to ensure that the United States were represented in the sporting contest. The Anzac team won, with the assorted Caribbean team second and the Americans' third.

As the daylight started to fade in lieu of a full firework display we had obtained a large number of sparklers'. With the sparklers' bright light illuminating the area we all stood to attention as a tape played on the social clubs' sound system. Starting with the American anthem is contained the anthems of all the countries represented by our happy group. As the light from the last sparklers died so the tape finished with God Save The Queen, we had shown you do not need to be American to celebrate Independence Day just be in the company of good friends.

We had two further celebrations of July the Fourth with Kenny before he was posted back to the States but they didn't have the same atmosphere as that first one. Perhaps people expected more or were willing to give less of themselves. I never expected to see Kenny again but on a September day in 2001 as I along with much of the world watched a television broadcast in disbelief and horror I saw him. The newscast switched from New York to a reporter outside the Pentagon and in the background there he was calmly and efficiently helping the wounded get the treatment they needed. I offered up a prayer of thanks that this man, who had introduced me to the idea of Independence Day, was spared death or injury so he could continue to do his duty for the country he loves. I have since found out that our dear Kenny has served with honor in both Iraq and Afganistan.

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