Myrtle Beach-area residents, visitors describe what America means to them

Today, we celebrate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, America’s statement of freedom.

As you celebrate that July 4, 1776, assertion and reflect on our freedoms, we asked visitors and residents what America means to them and their families.

Here are their responses:

Wendy Pirk of Mocksville, N.C., and her husband, Garry Pirk, and 9-year-old daughter, Makayla Pirk, are visiting Myrtle Beach for the Fourth of July.

“Freedom,” Makayla said with a shy, quiet voice when asked what America means to her.

“It’s the total aspect of freedom that we have here,” Wendy Pirk said.

The couple agreed the right to choice was an important component of what makes America free.

“The right to pursue what makes you happy,” Garry Pirk said.

For 17-year-old Leslie James, America is unity.

“It’s a place where we all can come together and not judge one another,” she said.

Destiny Anders, 14, said she feels privileged to have been born in America.

“We don’t have to deal with all the bad stuff going on in the world – war, famine,” she said. “We’re peaceful.”

While looking at his favorite airplane Friday at Warbird Park, John Bealing and his wife, Sheila Bealing, of Newnan, Ga., said America means opportunity to them.

“It’s a land of opportunity, and it’s something we should value because it’s sacred in this world,” John Bealing said. “Our differences make our country who we are.”

Sheila Bealing said she was saddened that some symbols have been removed from America’s public places such as the Ten Commandments.

“It is what our nation was built on. In God we trust, and we’re getting away from that,” she said.

Later Friday, Bud and Becky Ostendorf of Myrtle Beach said America means many things to them.

“When you think of the U.S., you think of freedom, but I feel some of that’s been taken away,” said Bud Ostendorf, a veteran.

“I wish we had the old U.S. of A. back,” Becky Ostendorf said.

“But I’d rather be here than anywhere else in the world,” Bud Ostendorf said. “It’s still the greatest country in the world.”

This story was originally published July 3, 2015 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach-area residents, visitors describe what America means to them."