250 Years of Freedom: An American Cossack's Independence Day
Hello, friends! It is I, an American Cossack, writing to you on the Fourth of July, the day our America turns 250 years old. Raise the flag and pour a glass, because this birthday belongs to us too. You want to know why a Cossack loves this country?
We crossed an ocean to stay free men. On America's 250th birthday, her freedom is our freedom too.
Hello, friends! It is I, an American Cossack, writing to you on the Fourth of July, the day our America turns 250 years old. Raise the flag and pour a glass, because this birthday belongs to us too.
You want to know why a Cossack loves this country? Look at our very name. "Cossack" has always meant a free man, one who bows to no lord and lives by his own honor. Long before there was a Declaration of Independence, our people gathered in the open circle, chose our own atamans, and guarded our own land. When the Americans stood up in 1776 and said free people should rule themselves, we understood them in our bones.
Look at the old photographs, our grandfathers in the papakha, our grandmothers in the vyshyvanka. When the Soviet hammer tried to erase us, they carried their faith, their shashka, and their songs across the ocean. They did not come here to stop being Cossacks. They came because America let them stay who they were, and be free.
Daily Life
1715 Spanish Treasure Hunting, Week of 4th of July 2026, Vero Beach Florida
Family and life of Dr. Serge Tsapenko - Ataman General of Cossacks of America
So on this 250th birthday, we do it the old way, standing.
To the United States of America, 250 years free. To every Cossack who crossed an ocean to stay a free man. To our children, who carry both flags in their hearts.
Slava! Lyubo! And happy birthday, America.
Message From the Ataman
Brothers Cossacks and Sisters Cossack Women, 250 years of American liberty is our celebration too. Guard our traditions, honor our ancestors, and stand tall. For our freedom, for the Motherland! For our America! Lyubo!
За нашу свободу, за Родину! За нашу Америку! Любо!