I'm with you 100% that we should honor our troops past and present. I luckily missed the Vietnam draft by a couple of years but I remember how we treated those who came back from there, and it was a crying shame.
But we have Memorial Day for those who gave their lives and Veteran's Day for all those who served to protect our country, and they deserve and have our thanks on those days and more. I'd like let Independence Day just be a reminder of the men who sweated their balls off in steamy Philadelphia and decided that they had had enough of British control, rather than extend this holiday as another that politicians can use to promote their political agenda on what it means to honor our country.