Anybody remember the Bicentennial?

[misanthrope]

This Substack and all of its links stirred a lot of memories. It made me wonder how the nation as it was in 1976 would have met with the kind of hostile takeover that is currently going on.

https://open.substack.com/pub/kevinblee/p/bye-bye-bicentennial-hopes?r=56tow&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Our class headed into downtown Birmingham in the late May heat to walk through the Freedom Train, a touring trove of 500-plus American artifacts that chugged across the nation from 1975-76. I was wide-eyed looking at George Washington’s personal copy of the Constitution, Ben Franklin’s handwritten notes for the Articles of Confederation, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s robes and pulpit, Judy Garland’s Wizard of Oz costume, Edison’s light bulb, Wilt Chamberlain’s basketball shoes and so much more. They ladled out the national mythos and I gulped it down.

It firmed up my beliefs. Self-governance required diligence and education. Literacy is vital, as is rational thought. The town hall meeting was the essence of our nation, a place where all had a chance to weigh in and cast equal votes. We didn’t desire or relish an aristocracy or monarchy. Those were the values I heard in the stories of our founders.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Ohhh, yes.

I was on the Mall that day, after I got off work at DCA. It was beyond wonderful.

For decades I've been planning to be on the Mall for July 4, 2026. I even know the hotel I want to stay in. But now, I'm not so sure I want to go. There's still plenty of time to decide.

[LiberalLoner]

6. Airport? Or communications agency as it was called back then?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

8. Huh? DCA was always DCA. Washington National Airport.

In ten years I absolutely never heard the airport called a communications agency.

[LiberalLoner]

10. No no I didn't know if you meant DCA the airport or if you worked at the communications agency known as DCA during those

Years. Defense Communications Agency was changed to DISA I think in the early 1990s.

I used to work at what was then known as the Defense Communications Agency (DCA) which is why I was curious.

I’m sorry I didn’t make it clear. Letrozole messing with my brain on top of MS messing with my brain. I make a lot of mistakes.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

13. I worked at DCA, Washington National Airport, from January, 1969 to August, 1979.

I have simply never heard of Defense Communications Agency ever. Of course, if it came about years after I left DCA (the airport) no surprise that I've never heard of it.

[LiberalLoner]

14. Oh, the Defense Communications Agency (now DISA) has been around since 1960.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Information_Systems_Agency

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

15. Clearly not an agency that very many are familiar with,

or even heard of.

Again, I have only ever seen DCA as referring to Washington National Airport.

[BannonsLiver]

2. I was pushing 4 that year so no memories to speak of.

It’s a regret given that it just seemed like such a different time. The country seemed much more sophisticated in a good way in the 70s.

[LeftInTX]

3. You-know-who is planning our 250th in 2026...ugh

I read that a week or so ago and it made me want to throw up in my mouth

As for the bicentennial, I lived in WI and most of the action was on the east coast. There was stuff on TV, but I didn't watch TV back then. I was too busy.

[Generic Other]

4. I ate a corndog just before going in (Bad Idea)

I was let off early -- right after the Declaration of Independence which I recall looking at when I turned vibrant green and nearly passed out.

[H2O Man]

5. Recommended.

I sure do. My late friend Rubin Carter spoke in DC on July 4th. I remember him saying, "Miracles do happen ..... they just take a dog-gone lot of work."

[Efilroft Sul]

7. The WWII vets I knew then were in their 50s and would've marched on DC, armed.

[ms liberty]

9. On July 4th, 1976, I was at Tampa Stadium at an Eagles concert

Fleetwood Mac was also on the bill, but the Eagles were the headliner.
$10, tax included. I saw Yes in June, and then Jethro Tull at the end of July that summer also, all at Tampa Stadium.

[Doc_Technical]

11. I remember the Tall Ships in New York Harbor.

[Hekate]

12. Oh yes. My daughter was born 12-25-1975. I could not have imagined where we are today...

None of it. 💔💔💔