First there was the famous image of the Marines raising the flag at Imo Jima. Then there is a similar image of fire fighters raising the flag at ground zero after 9/11. But nothing beats the reverence of the image taken on the Fourth of July 2000 just down the street from my house in Shakopee Minnesota.

The famous fire work display started before dark. We lived close to a field and used it to fire enormous bottle rockets into. After a few celebratory cocktails and beers, we used a 12 foot by 4 inch PVC tube I had in my garage as a launching mechanism. Not did it just work perfectly, but it make such a cool sound that it made it all the worth while. I can not remember why it took 5 guys to make this thing work but it did. Liquor, fireworks, friends and PVC tubing. You can't get better than that on a national holiday.