Publisher’s Note: This is a column that I wrote and published almost five years ago. I have changed a few things from my original column, but I haven’t changed much. This words below have been on my mind almost non-stop over the past few weeks as we enter week 3 of a government shutdown budget dispute between congressional Republicans and Democrats.
The United States of America. Land of the free. Home of the brave. There has never been a greater country. And, there never will be. This, I truly believe. No, our country is not perfect.
And sometimes, wrongs happen. However, the United States of America is great. And, it is mighty. As such, I will always take a stand against anyone who says otherwise.
Over the last couple of decades, there seems to be an ever growing contingent of people in our country (some in prominent positions of national leadership) who are trying desperately to convince the masses that “America has never been great….we should be ashamed of our country,” Thus, “we should all apologize for America.” In their opinion, the United States of America is always broken and always needs fixing. This makes my blood boil!
So many courageous and patriotic individuals paid the ultimate price for our many freedoms. And fortunately, will still have many veterans who are still here as living testimonies of what our great country stands for. However, our World War II veterans are almost all gone. For sure, we should continuously honor and respect them all for the service they rendered to our great nation. No doubt about it whatsoever, these brave individuals of valor do not get nearly enough thanks, honor and respect.
What type of a feeling do you get when you see our American flag on display? What do you do when you see our flag presented in public? Speaking for myself, I get tingly all over. It is such a great feeling to stand at attention and place my right hand over my heart when I see our flag go by. I am proud. Proud to be an American. And, my knees get weak when I hear our national anthem put to music and song.
Yes, patriotism is a mindset, a feeling, an attitude. In my lifetime, there have been many people who have inspired me and evoked my feelings of pride and patriotism toward our great nation.
First and foremost, I was raised that way. Secondly, it was Ronald Reagan, our 40th President. I was only 19 years of age at the time, but I vividly remember that things were not good in our country when President Reagan came into office. However, he quickly restored a feeling of pride and patriotism in our nation. I will never forget his vision of America as the great shinning city on the hill. What happened? How did we get so “off the tracks.?” Oftentimes, I worry that our young people are not being exposed to the same patriotism and pride in our great nation that we were taught in our school aged years. And back then, our leaders on opposing sides found a way to compromise and work together in a concerted effort to move forward.
Patriotism in our beloved United States of America must remain alive and well. It can never be allowed to die or to be “put on the shelf.”Our country has a long and treasured history. Again, not everything that happened was perfect or right, by any means. However, we can’t change or re-write our history, We have so much to be proud of…not to be ashamed. Don’t let anyone or anything keep you from showing your patriotism and the pride that you have for our great nation. Patriotism is our duty as Americans. Do your part to show that American patriotism is not dead and will never die.
Randy Brown is Regional Publisher and Executive VP of Specht Newspapers, Inc.