Kennebunkport, Maine ? President Bush marked his 56th birthday Saturday at his father’s summer home overlooking the Atlantic with a few thoughts about the spirit of American independence in an age of terrorism.

Bush, who watched Washington’s Fourth of July fireworks display from the White House balcony, said history proves Americans are a united people and “when you strike one American you strike them all.”

Just after sunrise Saturday, Bush and his father, former President George Bush, left the family’s stone-walled manor on Walker’s Point to play golf. “That’s the way I like it – up and early,” the president said before leading off a foursome that also included brother-in-law Bobby Koch and a local golf pro.

Bush said he hadn’t thought much about what he wanted for his birthday. “First of all I’m glad my mother and wife remembered,” he said. “… Feeling a little older, if you know what I mean.”

At their Kennebunkport golf outing last year, Bush and his father wore caps with the numbers 43 and 41, denoting their respective presidencies. This year Bush wore a cap that read “El Jefe,” the chief. He joked that it was French. Actually, it’s Spanish.

Bush said he anticipated a family lunch and perhaps a surprise birthday party. Other than that, he said he planned to stay at Walker’s Point “hanging out with my family.”

And that, he said, “is a wonderful gift unto itself.”

The Bush family has spent summer vacations here for more than a century, and the president wasted no time getting out on the water. As soon as he arrived Friday, he joined his father and daughter Jenna in zipping around their favorite fishing holes in the former president’s power boat.

But America’s war against terrorism was clearly on his mind in his prerecorded Saturday radio address devoted entirely to the patriotic spirit.

“More than ever in the lifetime of most Americans, our flag stands for a true united country,” Bush said. “We’ve been united in our grief and we are united in our resolve to protect our people and defeat the enemies of freedom.”

More than 60,000 U.S. troops are serving around the world in the war against terror, the president said, and their service stands as an example and an inspiration to those at home.

“As we fight a war abroad, at home, Americans are answering the call to service, giving their time and energy to causes greater than self-interest,” Bush said.

“This nation is confronting a terrible evil, and we are confronting evil with good,” he said.

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In the Democratic address, former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell said Americans celebrating at home should not forget about those protecting freedom overseas.

“This weekend, as we enjoy the beach, barbecue, fireworks and the company of loved ones, let’s say a prayer for those who are separated from their families and living under constant danger so that we can live safely and freely with our families,” said Rendell, a former general chairman of the national Democratic Party who now is running for governor of Pennsylvania.

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Bush last visited his family’s six-acre Kennebunkport compound at this time a year ago. Two months later, on Sept. 11, hijacked airliners were crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

This year the area around the Bush house is one of six security zones nationwide over which aircraft are prohibited to fly.

Walker’s Point is owned by the elder Bushes. The former president has visited every summer since his boyhood, except during his time as a Navy pilot during World War II. It was his vacation headquarters during his four-year presidency.

The current president spends most of his vacation days at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md., or at his 1,600-acre Texas ranch.