Locals showing their true colors for Fourth

LYNN – There won?t be any doubt about how much Patti Tombino and Debbie LeBlanc of Lynn love Independence Day. They will be decked out in red, white and blue from head to toe.?It?s my birthday and wherever I go, there is a party and everyone is having fun,” said LeBlanc.She wears blue sunglasses, red sandals and holiday earrings and an American flag necklace pendant in case there is any mistaking her allegiance or her celebratory attitude.Tombino wears an American flag outfit to display her spirit, and Independence Day is not the only holiday she breaks the stars and stripes out of her closet. Tombino?s son, William Blaney Jr., served overseas as a Marine 12 years ago.?My son went into the military and I bought this outfit,” she said.July 4 means celebrating with cookouts and fireworks and time together with family, but Tombino said it is also a chance to link freedom with veterans? sacrifices. She dons her flag outfit for Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day and, of course, Flag Day.?I?m proud and I don?t think we give credit enough to veterans,” she said.In the U.S., flags – according to the Associated Press – have come to embody ideology and stir passions in ways that have few modern international equivalents, experts say.?We are unique in the extent and depth of our worship of the flag. There?s no nation on earth like us,” said Rick Shenkman, associate history professor at George Mason University and editor of the History News Network.Marc Leepson, author of “Flag: An American Biography,” agreed. “We don?t have a monarch or a state religion,” he said. “In some ways, the flag is a substitute.”Leepson recalled that when he was writing his book, he solicited online comments from people around the world on how they regarded their nations? flags. The response, he said, was almost unanimous. “They said, ?We love our flag but nothing like you Americans do.? …. People are as patriotic as Americans are. They just don?t have this deep emotional attachment.”Leepson points out the many ways the Stars and Stripes are honored: The annual celebration of Flag Day (June 14), the Pledge of Allegiance recited daily by schoolchildren, the singing of “The Star Spangled Banner” in so many venues, including countless Fourth of July celebrations.Like LeBlanc, Billy Ford of Lynn was born on July 4 and a birthday coupled with a holiday has always meant parties and hanging out with family.?It?s a special time to hear from a lot of family members,” he said.For Susan Cheever of Lynn, the flag is the connection between holiday cookouts and Independence Day?s meaning.?It?s family getting together and celebrating our freedom,” she said.