Today we celebrate the birth of our Republic and the opportunities and freedoms we are so fortunate to share because we live in this wonderful country.

But we cannot share this day of celebration without also sharing our concern for the well-being of thousands of men and women who are wearing the uniform of our country and are, today, very far from home.

We honor those who dedicated themselves to giving us our freedom centuries ago, and we pray for those who are dedicating themselves to preserving that freedom today.

For all their efforts and sacrifices, we are eternally grateful.

Among those dedicated men and women who served abroad but now are safe at home is Sgt. Cody Ruane of Butte, Mont., who spent a year stationed with the Army north of Baghdad.

“Thank you Bangor,” wrote his father, John Ruane.

On Monday, June 12, his son returned from his tour of duty in Iraq.

“He went through some tough times,” his father wrote, “but the only thing that he ever asked me while he was there was, ‘Do the people of the U.S. support us?’

“He said that was the one thing that kept the soldiers going: The support of the people for the troops.

“That question was answered on Monday night.”

John Ruane explained that when his son’s unit got off the plane and first “stepped foot on U.S. soil again” at Bangor International Airport, they were met by many, many people.

“My son was just overwhelmed,” his father wrote. “He was given a cell phone so he could call home.”

During that telephone call, he told his father about “the veterans and others that met the plane.”

Since “most of his unit” is from Utah and Ruane is from Montana, “we are not talking about friends and relatives, but total strangers,” his father emphasized.

John Ruane wrote, “It is hard to describe the feelings of pride and patriotism that I felt when he told me about how wonderful it made him feel. What a great thing to do to welcome our soldiers home. That call meant more to us than you can possibly know. Thank you from the bottom of a proud father’s heart.

“What a terrific place Bangor, Maine, must be, and what wonderful people live there,” he wrote of the tireless, committed people we know as our Maine Troop Greeters.

“God bless America!”

This letter came to us from Anchorage, Alaska.

Douglas and Shirley Iverson wrote of “the warmest welcome” their daughter received “from a group of Bangor citizens at the airport.”

Last March, when HM2 Jill Partin and her fellow U. S. Navy reservists were passing through Bangor International Airport on their way to the Middle East, “their welcome was truly heartfelt,” her parents wrote.

These troops were also given cell phones, which are graciously provided by Unicel and U.S. Cellular, so that they could call their loved ones before leaving the country.

“She called her husband and kids” in North Carolina, Partin’s parents wrote, “and called us here, at home, in Alaska.

“She has been serving our country for almost 20 years, and has been away from her family many times, but this was the first overseas deployment.

“There is no other way to say this but, Thank You, Thank You, Bangor Maine.”

Trish Barder of Lykens, Pa., sent us a copy of the Saturday, June 24, Op Ed page from The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pa., which contained a “Salute to Bangor” from Richard Wright of Hummelstown.

Upon landing at Bangor International Airport after 13 months in Iraq, Wright’s son called, and Wright asked him “if that was the place where, last year, on the way to Iraq, the people were so friendly.”

His son said “Yes, and that they were there again, giving the soldiers cheers, handshakes, thank you’s and soda and the like.”

And, of course, his son had been handed a cell phone.

“This was a really heartfelt, kind thing for these folks to do … and they obviously do this on a continuing basis,” the soldier’s father wrote.

“God bless the people in Bangor.

“God bless America.”

Adding her own comments, Barder wrote, “Bangor is the first American soil our troops encounter when and if they return home.

“Nothing could be more welcoming, loving or caring for our military than to be so proudly greeted by Bangor, Maine.”

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; 990-8288.