Before the thunderstorms drowned out the fireworks and turned celebrations soggy, Marietta was as good a place as any in metro Atlanta on Monday to satisfy all patriotic urges.
As Lee Greenwood's recorded rendition of "God Bless the USA" asked people to stand up and support their country, beauty queens, war veterans and politicians -- the latter group even including Democrats in GOP-dominated Cobb County -- were among the hundreds who marched in the Marietta Fourth of July parade.
Amid the holiday celebration, assembled members of the Georgia Vietnam War Veterans Alliance felt an appreciation that wasn't always evident, especially in the years immediately following that overseas conflict.
"It is mighty fine to walk down the street and see the people waving," said wheelchair-bound John Dudley, a Navy veteran. "In our old age some of us got popular."
Marietta's parade was held in sunlight and in a more timely fashion than the Fourth of July celebrations at Lenox Square and other metro Atlanta venues. A mid-afternoon storm hit the Buckhead mall right when the "Taste of the Fourth" food event was to begin. Jordan Worrall, mall publicist, fretted as she looked at the torrents of rain soaking the vendors and sending early attendees running for the mall.
"It looked like a small spot on the radar," said Worrall, who had hoped for an overcastday.
At Marietta Square, Dave and Marion Sayer, a Powder Springs couple that was accompanied by its dog Bandit, planned to celebrate an Independence Day holiday that people say has retained more of its character than Memorial Day or Labor Day.
"It's more about freedom and how we take our liberties for granted," Marion Sayer said.
Others saw an opportunity to bring a religious message to the holiday. With strains of the Greenwood anthem playing overhead, people among those waving flags held up placards during the parade that had pointed messages. One stated bluntly: "Uncle Sam cannot save your souls from Hell. Repent or perish."
Isiah McKinnon, who said he was starting a church in Sandy Springs, handed out fake million-dollar bills that offered an evangelical messages on the backs.
"Unfortunately our nation is turning away from God," McKinnon said, "but we have the freedom to change things."
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