We received this e-mail from Bud, who is a member of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides the 4th of July inspiration we all can benefit from.

"I enjoyed reading your article in V-Twin Magazine. I was surprised to see an LT in the magazine. I ride a 2001 LT. I spent 32 days in Alaska last year. I had a great time. I think one of my most fond memories of the Fourth of July came in 1999; I had recently been through a particularly bad divorce and went for an extended ride out west to unwind. I arrived in Rapid City, South Dakota on July 2nd in a heavy drizzle. The weather did not allow viewing Mount Rushmore, so I puttered around the area for a couple of days, and on the 4th, the weather cleared up. I went to the evening service and as dusk fell, an ex-Marine Sergeant Major came onto the stage and spoke about his service in Vietnam and other campaigns. After he spoke everyone stood to say the Pledge

of Allegiance and then sing the National Anthem. There was a great pride in everyone there and not a dry eye in the place. It was truly a remarkable experience and one that to this day gives me chills.