Celebrating Independence Day Abroad

As Chip Middleton looked around the theater in Saarbrücken, waiting for a performance by the Russian Ballet to begin, she felt something was missing.

“The thing that struck me was that there was not an American flag in the theater,” Chip recalled. “The German flag was on one side of the stage and the Russian flag on the other. No ‘Star Spangled Banner’ played — nothing American.”

At any sporting event or performance in the United States, she would have expected to see an American flag prominently displayed. For the first time during her travels, she thought deeply about what the American flag stood for: freedom.

“I didn’t feel the absence of freedom, but not having the American flag displayed was unusual to me,” Chip said. “It did make me proud of our country and our flag, however.”

While living in a country where days such as the Fourth of July or Memorial Day are just another weekday to other residents, Chip and her family also gained a new appreciation for patriotic holidays and how they are celebrated in the U.S.

The Middleton family, Bill, Chip and their then 4-year-old daughter Stephanie, arrived in Germany on Jan. 3, 1978. Bill Middleton was hired as an interior designer and was later promoted to chief interior designer for the non-appropriated funds facilities at Morale, Welfare and Recreation.

“I had a staff of five designers to cover the 30 plus bases we had across Europe,” Bill said. “That office still exists, but I think they’re down to two people right now.”

Bill recalled the close-knit community of the stairwell dwellers on Ramstein Air Base — many of whom he views as his “adopted family.”

“While there were lots of civilians living on base at that time, we were blessed to have military families in our stairwells in both the buildings we lived in,” Bill said. “It gave us a sense of family with those dear folks and allowed us to be there with them in the good times and the bad. It truly made our freedom special.”

The stairwell residents enjoyed American style cookouts on holidays and weekends when they didn’t travel, he recalled.

“We would nearly always get together with everyone and have a cookout and then go watch the fireworks show on base in the evening,” Chip added.

While living overseas, the Middletons took advantage of unique ways to celebrate patriotic holidays, as well.

“One of the greatest things we were able to do while there was visiting the battlefields and burial grounds where so many of our brave American Soldiers had given their lives,” Bill said. “It really made us appreciate our freedom and the sacrifices the military makes for our freedom.”

Chip said reflecting on the sacrifices made for freedom of religion and government gave her a new perspective on what it means to be an American and the “American dream” craved by people from all walks of life.

Sydney Bittner has been living in Germany for a year and a half. She celebrated Independence Day in Germany for the first time last year.

Bittner said Independence Day is her second favorite holiday — second only to Christmas.

“My family used to have a party every year,” Bittner recalled. “We lived in a town a block from the carnival, and we would always watch the fireworks from my back yard.”

Last year, Bittner and her husband watched the fireworks on base, but they didn’t have any other festivities.

“Living here is different; people have private parties or go on base,” she said. “You definitely have to stay in this area to get the sense of a holiday. I liked celebrating this holiday a lot more stateside.”

Although Independence Day is very special to her, Bittner said she hasn’t made many particular celebration plans this year.

“I assume I’ll watch the fireworks,” Bittner said. “Maybe FaceTime my hubby so he can see them too.”

Bittner has prepared an Independence Day themed box to send to her husband, Spc. Hayden Bittner, who will be deployed through the holiday.

While the Bittners and others will continue to make the most of Independence Day abroad, for the Middleton family, those are sweet but distant memories.

The Middleton family moved to San Antonio, Texas, Aug. 20, 1993 after more than 15 years living abroad.

In addition to keeping up with the celebration of traditional patriotic holidays while overseas, the Middletons enjoyed incorporating aspects of German celebrations into their own holidays — even after they returned to the states.

“We enjoyed the German Christmas holiday the most,” Chip said. “Some of their traditions we have adopted for our own family and many we miss terribly.”

Chip contrasted the fragrant smells of the spices that floated through the German Christmas markets in the winter with the more commercialized version she sees living in the U.S.

“When stores start putting out Christmas displays in July, Christmas is somewhat tarnished by December, and you feel that the true meaning is getting lost amongst everything else,” she said.

Watching fireworks shows, signifying the “bombs bursting in air” during the U.S. fight for independence, will remain one of Bill’s favorite traditions — along with crowding as many small American flags as he can through the flowerbeds in front of his home in San Antonio.

Living in a civilian neighborhood, Chip misses being surrounded by men and women in base housing who, with their families, make sacrifices every day to preserve freedom. She said she was filled with patriotic pride when she would hear the national anthem blared on loud speakers at the end of the workday.

“It never bothered me to have to stop my car or stand outside while it was being played,” Chip said. “I always felt a sense of pride when I heard it — and still do.”