A Special Edition of The Curious Urinal

Local Residents Celebrate 4th of July

Here we are once again. It’s the July Fourth weekend, and local residents are celebrating in the usual ways. People are preparing to cook out, making those last minute runs to the store for buns, or ice. Children are running around Buzzardbait Park carrying sparklers, and anticipating larger fireworks later in the evening. Some are heading out to the lake to fish, while others are heading out to visit friends or family.

But one of the residents of Buzzardbait is celebrating the holiday the same way he celebrates every day. He has to be the most patriotic resident in town.

His name is Wilber Oltymer, and when I saw him, he had just raised the Stars and Strips in front of his humble home. I walked up and asked him what his plans were for the Fourth. He gave me a curious smile and said, “You know, people can celebrate the day in a lot of ways, but most people never remember what the holiday is really all about.”

He led me to the front porch and we sat as he began, “Our forefathers brought forth to this continent a new nation, sacrificing their fortunes, their good names and their sacred honor, and in many cases their lives, to establish America - the greatest nation on the face of the earth.” He sipped at a glass of lemonade and pointed toward the flagpole. "You see the flagpole there? I put that up after I moved back home. I was fresh out of the Marines, where I did three tours of duty in Vietnam. I came home and had to take care of my parents. Now there were two patriotic people. My father served in World War Two. He won the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. He rescued several of his fellow troops while they were taking out a Nazi machine gun bunker. My father was shot thirteen times in the process of rescuing his brothers in arms.”

“My mother was a nurse at a MASH unit. She tended to his wounds and they discovered that they were from the same area. After the war, they moved here and got married, and had me a year later. Things were a lot simpler back in those days. You could live the American Dream and not have too many problems. Of course that was a different time.” He said, “When they passed away, I took this house and put that flagpole up. It was my way of honoring their service to the nation and in honor of them as my parents.”

He again looked at the flag and said, “You know, nowadays, too many people take this country for granted. Some protest it and call it names. Some just use it and drain it dry. Some people apologize for its arrogance; bowing down to foreign leaders. Then you have those that would do harm to America. Those fools that would love to change it into something else, or simply see it die. Those people who hate America and want to change it or destroy it had better beware. Because there are still people, like me, who will fight for her. Those that would sacrifice there fortunes, their good names and their sacred honor to defend her. And yes, those that would die for her. You see that with every person that puts on the uniform of the Armed Forces. They love this country, just like I do!” He added, “And I will gladly fight for my country again to make sure that those who would do America harm would not prevail!”

He glanced back up to the flag, fluttering gently in the simmer breeze and sighed. “My wife had gone to New York to visit some family back in September of 2001. And her sister had taken her to the World Trade Center to tour it. That was on 9/11. They never made it out of Building One after the plane hit it.” He stopped a moment and wiped a stray tear away. “My sons, Charlie and Andy were fresh out of high school and were about to start college. They decided to join the military instead. They volunteered to go to Iraq and Afghanistan instead. Charlie was in Bagdad when a roadside bomb blew his Humvee to bits. Andy is still in Afghanistan, trying to help liberate that nation. I’m very proud of them all.”

He stood up and shook my hand as he fought back his tears. He thanked me for listening, and walked inside of the house.

As I walked off the front porch, I looked up at the flag and smiled. America may have its problems, but it is still the Greatest Nation on the face of the Earth! And for those of us who were lucky enough to have been born here, or for those that immigrated here to become citizens, we should all be thankful that we live here, in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave!

Happy 4th of July. God Bless America!