Define Who You Are

Growing up, most of us were pretty sure who we were, and what we believed in. Maybe, we need to get back to basics and remind ourselves of what we really stand for. Here goes.

I am a citizen of the United States of America, as were many generations before me. A lot of them served in the service of their country, and I thank them and all the others for their sacrifice. I am descended from pilgrims, pioneers, laborers, farmers, teachers, patriots. They flew their flags proudly, fought for their homes and their rights, helped their neighbors, and worked hard for everything they had in life.

I love my country, the United States of America. There, I’ve said it. I confess. I get teary-eyed when I hear the Star Spangled Banner played, and when I see our troops marching by and when someone plays taps. I am proud of the fact that we, and we alone, were the experiment in democracy that succeeded. I know, there have been problems along the way. No one ever said there wouldn’t be. I am proud that our Constitution is based on freedom, and justice, and reference to God. Yea, you got me. I’m a patriot. I’m one of those, who in the “good old days” before what is “in”, overruled what is “right”, and “stretching and bending the law for the sake of political correctness” was acceptable would have been considered a good person.
But, that was then, and this is now. Patriots are those of us who still believe in old fashioned things like individual freedom.

The United States of America has come to the aid, financially, and militarily, more often than any other country in the world. We are the first to arrive with supplies and aid during natural, and unnatural disasters. We defend the rights of humanity when no one else wants to get involved.

Our young men and women have died for people around the world that they didn’t know. They have cried over the bodies of babies who never had a chance to know freedom, and people barely alive who survived the horrors of Dachau and Auschwitz.

I do not want anyone to apologize for my country. For all our faults, we are still the best place to live. I do not feel arrogant or politically incorrect for saying that. There are people arriving here every day from all over the world who feel the same way. They dream about coming to America, just as folks have for two hundred years, and they sometimes risk their lives to get here.

Nothing in my genetic makeup, or the cynicism that abounds today, or the constant “America bashing” we are subjected too, or the pseudo-intellectual distortion of the history of our country will change my admiration for my personal ancestors, or the millions of other patriots who have worked hard in the past to hold onto the America they loved.

As only one of the millions of Americans in this country, those whose families go back generations, and those who only recently became citizens, I am not important. What is important is that we never lose pride in this great country, or feel that we must humble ourselves in the eyes of the world.

"Thanks for the free clip-art to the Just A Touch Art Studio of Jonesboro, Georgia; www.justatouch.com"