But Americans are beaming with fierce pride on the eve of their country's first Independence Day celebration since Sept. 11. It isn't any different in Hawai'i. You can measure it with fireworks, floats and firefighters.

The annual Kailua Fourth of July Parade is a good place to start.

Larry Lanning, coordinator of the parade and the community's annual offshore fireworks display, feels this year will be different, even though he says he has no way to quantify that.

"I think they will feel differently but maybe not act differently," he says. "I guess it's because that's how I feel. I think there will be more of an appreciation for patriotism. You don't really appreciate something until you have the risk of losing it."

There are more floats this year ­ 113 ­ than there were last year, but that's because it's an election year, Lanning says, and politicians never miss an opportunity.

One of the floats will be from Castle Medical Center, where officials rented a big blue dump truck to tow the hospital's annual entry.

Hospital spokesman David Earles says there was no shortage of volunteers.

"They are always quite involved but they seem a little more interested in being involved this year," he says. "Every time we talk about the Fourth and the patriotism side, 9-11 comes up. I don't know if it is a driving factor but we bought more American flags than we had before, and we are definitely incorporating more patriotic themes than we would normally."

Another traditional participant in the parade is the Kailua Fire Station. This year, its ladder truck will join the parade, but the mood will be different, says department spokesman Capt. Richard Soo.

How can it not be, he says. Too many firefighters ­ "our brothers" ­ died when the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed.

"It does feel different," Soo says. "It feels like we are proud to be American at a time where we all have to step up to the plate."

Honolulu firefighters are more conscious of their patriotism, to the point where the department expects it will now attract a different kind of recruit, Soo says.

They are a first-line of defense against terrorism, he says, and that's new on this Fourth of July.

Their standard, of course, is the U.S. flag. Practically every truck in the department now flies one.

"The flag has become an important symbol for our department," he says. "Before we only raised it on a flagpole. Now you see it on our apparatus and on the chests of firefighters' uniforms."

It's a silent, honest pledge of allegiance.

"It is not a requirement," he says. "I think it comes from the heart."