America the Beautiful - The Other Verses

O beautiful for pilgrim feet, Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved, And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness, And ev'ry gain divine.words by: Katherine L. Bates, 1859-1929. Music: Samuel A. Ward, 1848-1903

This Independence Day, I'll remember the price paid and the risks taken to create our path to freedom - which still draws people from all over the world. I'm thankful too for those heroes, past and present, who did and do risk their lives without question for the rest of us, for a dream.

The more I learn of our history, the greater the awareness of the miracle of our nation. Even with its many imperfections, it is peerless in this world, worthy of our loyalty, and deserving of the benefit of the doubt.