Who: Steve Rogers and OPEN to reactions Where: New York City, Times Square When: July 4th, 2013 What: There's a Fourth of July parade, a re-opening of the Statue of Liberty, and a brief speech by Captain America Rating: G
After the parade, during which Captain America made an appearance riding on top of a World War II era Sherman tank along with other veterans, he made his way to Times Square to give a speech in the early afternoon. As he strode up to the podium, he was back in his modern day costume, with his legendary shield upon his back. With a look out at the crowd of thousands he began to speak in a confident tone that betrayed none of the uneasiness he continued to feel as a man outside of his own time.
"July fourth. Seventeen seventy six. Two hundred thirty seven years ago. Our founding fathers joined together to sign a document that would become the Declaration of Independence, signaling the birth of our present nation. Today we have cookouts and fireworks to celebrate that day, but what many of us often forget is how very heroic the founding fathers were in signing the Declaration.
At the time, Britain was the most powerful nation in the world with an unrivaled navy and a professional army that had helped to build an empire in ever corner of the world. The phrase, "the sun never sets on the British Empire" was a hard truth, and one that our founding fathers had to bare the weight of as they signed the Declaration of Independence.
Those men, George Read, Samuel Adams, Josiah Bartlett, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Stone, and all of the others knew that by signing the Declaration their lives would be forfeit if we had lost our war against Britain, but they did it anyway, with the courage to stand up for what they believed in-that our nation should be free and indepedent-and the determination to make their belief a reality.
And so while you should enjoy your barbeques, your friends, your family, and all of the fireworks that mark this historic occasion, take a moment to reflect on the true meaning of this day for our nation. Not simply July fourth, but Independence Day. The day our nation was born."
As the crowd broke into applause, Steve excused himself so that the Mayor could give his own speech.