Rick Patrick
rick@greenepublishing.com
It was noteworthy that, on Friday, June 14, Flag Day, Madison celebrated the 80th anniversary of the dedication of the Four Freedoms Monument. In June of 1944, the United States was in the midst of World War II and at stake was the very fabric of the freedoms with which we are blessed. The country was fighting against the evils of Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany. If the U.S. and her allies failed, all of humanity would have been plunged into unimaginable evil and darkness. The monument, which stands in the corner of Four Freedoms Park, reminds us of the freedoms for which the country struggled to preserve. The monument was dedicated to the memory of a young man, Colin P. Kelly, Jr., who lost his life in the early days of that struggle.
During the June 14 ceremony, various community leaders spoke and gave their personal feelings about each of the four freedoms depicted by four angels in the monument. Those are: the Freedom of Expression, the Freedom of Religion, the Freedom from Fear and the Freedom from Want.