YONGSAN GARRISON -- Whether young or old, the symbolic meaning of a country's independence runs deep for most people. Americans at home with family and friends, or serving their country overseas, come together to watch fireworks and celebrate their freedom.
On July 2, the U.S. Ambassador to Korea, Mark Lippert hosted a traditional Independence Day event for his staff, other nation's embassy personnel assigned in Korea and all of their families.
"It's appropriate that we are here celebrating this today, because the Declaration of Independence was actually written on July 2, 1776," Ambassador Lippert said. "However, the founding fathers did not finish signing it until July 4th."
In his remarks, he thanked USAG Yongsan for hosting the event.
"We greatly appreciate being able to come together here and share a little piece of America with our Embassy friends and family."
An American style fireworks show showered the sky with color, serving as a preview of more to come two days later.
On July 4, members of the U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan community gathered near Collier Community Fitness Center for the annual Independence Day Festival. The event included classic American food, live musical entertainment all day and into the night, children's games and crafts and other festivities traditionally enjoyed on America's birthday.
The day began with an early morning 5-kilometer 'Fun Run.' Afterwards, vendors streamed in to set up their booths and attendees were greeted by Col. Maria P. Eoff, commander, U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan.
"This year marks 239 years of freedom -- a remarkable achievement," said Eoff. "Serving less than an hour away from the DMZ is a sobering reminder we must steadfastly fight for democracy."
Local Koreans and visiting American citizens were admitted on post to join in the festivities, emphasizing the fact that with the alliance strong and growing stronger -- "We Go Together."
"It certainly brings back a lot of memories," said Seok Won Lee, a local resident visiting the garrison for the holiday. "I remember celebrating the Fourth of July in the United States as a child, before I came back to Korea and I never knew I could have the same thing here. It's like a 'little America' you can't experience anywhere else in this country."
According to MWR, 43 individual booths were set up for the festival and approximately 12,000 people attended the celebration.
Throughout the day, raffle tickets were drawn for prizes. Pie eating, hula hoop and limbo contests were held during short breaks in the musical performances. After dark, several famous Korean music artists and K-pop groups entertained the crowd. After the last musical performance, the grand prize raffle ticket was drawn for two round-trip airline tickets to the United States.
The big finale was a fireworks show lighting up Seoul's night sky with vibrant colors, allowing all within sight of USAG Yongsan -- no matter what their nationality, heritage or citizenship -- to enjoy the celebration together.
Related Links:
U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan Homepage
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