July 4th 2025, 637 Days

As Americans

What do we know about safety

Of security or threat

These big words that only seem to be movie plots and some foreign words of veterans

We grew up seeing the P.O.W. flag wave

Without truly understanding what it stood for

We saw the wall of 'missing people' in every Walmart across the country

Yellow ribbons tied to trees, people waiting for their loved ones to return

But we grew up in America

Where we didn't question survival

Where threats didn't feel like they lived anywhere near us

We know as a sure thing that if anything were to happen to us, our country would come and save us.

We watched all the movies that convinced us through and through

If you, as an American citizen, encounter terrorism

The full strength of the U.S. military would stop at nothing to save you, to avenge you, to bring you home.

At the same time, we were also taught

We do not negotiate with terrorists

No matter what

Terrorists die, all of them, and anyone who has assisted them.

And yet, here we are

July 4th 2025

We stand tall while we chant the words 

“Land of the Free, Home of the Brave”

Today, on day 637 

We stand with you across the ocean, and we are pleading 

BE BRAVE

Keep your promise of freedom 

For we all are

“One nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice FOR ALL.”

Day 637, Ruby Chen- Itay Chen's Father - Tel Aviv