As we celebrate Independence Day and the birth of our Nation, it is also a time to appreciate the sacrifices so many Americans have made to gain and protect the freedoms that for 232 years have defined our country.

Foremost among these Americans, of course, are the signers of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the soldiers who put their lives on the line in the Revolutionary War between 1775 and 1783.

But our country has had to defend our freedoms throughout its history, and perhaps at no time was the threat more grave than in the early months of America's entry into World War II. The armies of Germany and Italy had overrun much of Europe. The Japanese forced the surrender of U.S. forces the Philippines, while the U.S. Pacific fleet was still recovering from the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor.

The United States was working fervently to rebuild its military forces, but on July 4, 1942, the threat by any measure was ominous. Traditional fireworks shows were canceled because of blackouts in most cities and towns. The few ceremonies that were held were mostly military exercises. Responding to President Franklin Roosevelt's request, most companies and government offices worked through the holiday.

The President marked the occasion with a rousing call to action. His brief address appears below. His words are inspirational and a moving tribute to the people of America, then and now, who throughout our history have risen to the occasion and done whatever has been required to defend our great Nation.

FDR's Address to the Nation, July 4, 1942

"For 166 years, this Fourth Day of July has been a symbol to the people of our country of the democratic freedom which our citizens claim as their precious birthright. On this grim anniversary its meaning has spread over the entire globe -- focusing the attention of the world upon the modern freedoms for which all the United Nations are now engaged in deadly war.

"On the desert sands of Africa, along the thousands of miles of battle lines in Russia, in New Zealand and Australia, and the islands of the Pacific, in war-torn China and all over the seven seas, free men are fighting desperately -- and dying -- to preserve the liberties and the decencies of modern civilization. And in the overrun and occupied nations of the world, this day is filled with added significance, coming at a time when freedom and religion have been attacked and trampled upon by tyrannies unequaled in human history.

"Never since it first was created in Philadelphia, has this anniversary come in times so dangerous to everything for which it stands. We celebrate it this year, not in the fireworks of make-believe but in the death-dealing reality of tanks and planes and guns and ships. We celebrate it also by running without interruption the assembly lines which turn out these weapons to be shipped to all the embattled points of the globe. Not to waste one hour, not to stop one shot, not to hold back one blow -- that is the way to mark our great national holiday in this year of 1942.

"To the weary, hungry, unequipped Army of the American Revolution, the Fourth of July was a tonic of hope and inspiration. So is it now. The tough, grim men who fight for freedom in this dark hour take heart in its message -- the assurance of the right to liberty under God -- for all peoples and races and groups and nations, everywhere in the world."

Terry Goddard