And I'm Proud to Be An American....

True Confession: I've never really been patriotic. I mean, I stand when we say the Pledge of Allegiance, I vote, I heart NASCAR and I eat those really yummy red, white and blue popsicles.  But you've probably heard me say (well, maybe not you Internet Crazies. I feel like I'm leaving you out!) that if I ever had the opportunity to move back to Europe, I would sell everything I own and never look back. Yeah yeah yeah...higher taxes, smaller living spaces, expensive gas prices...yada yada yada...I could be persuaded to turn a blind eye to these teeny tiny details if I could enjoy pain au chocolat whenever I wanted. If my children could be immersed in the culture and language of a foreign country..you know, good reasons.

So I started doing this play. It has a patriotic theme which I pretty immediately found horribly hokey but I'd agreed to help my friend so I was in. I joked about only being in it if I could be George Washington or the Statue of Liberty (well, I changed my mind about the Statue of Liberty. She sings.) I warmed up to it a bit as we performed it. It was nice to do something to entertain others. And some parts of it are really quite moving to be honest. I think my favorite part is towards the end when we ask all members of the military past and present to stand while we sing their branch's anthem. Very cool. I teared up every night as men (and women!) stood to honor the branch of the military in which they served.  Well, the play came to an end and I happily left that little hobby to people who could ACTUALLY sing and dance. Except that a kid in our cast decided, for his Eagle project, to organize bringing the play to a local Veterans Home since so many residents are unable to leave. We agreed to do it and performed last night. Well, believe me when I tell you--it made a patriot out me.

We start the play by saying the Pledge of Allegiance. We didn't specify that the audience should rise, since we knew so many couldn't but those who could would know they probably should. (Um, did you get that?) It brought tears to my eyes when I saw these men and women--some of whom were blind, missing limbs and loads of other things--do everything they could do to get on their feet. It MEANT something to them. I can honestly tell you, it has never meant anything to me. It's just something I memorized in the first grade that I mindlessly repeat before saying in my head at the end, "Gentlemen, start your engines!" But gosh, last night...the meaning of those words were burned in my heart.

For those of you lucky enough to experience the magic of actually seeing the play, you'll know that I did in fact sing a solo. (I was a teacher, dontcha know!) The song talks about how great America is and how there are things here that you can't find anywhere else and that's why it's so great. Then these lines, "It's yours, it's mine, it's free." I sang those lines and, looking out at those men and women it hit me: it isn't free. Nothing is free. SOMEONE has to pay for it at some point. They did. They paid with their limbs and their sight and, in some really sad cases, their sanity. More likely than not, these men and women didn't serve to travel or pay for higher education, they served to fight. For their families, their posterity and for people they didn't even know. For spoiled little yahoos like me who take it all for granted. I was so ashamed of myself. 

Another speaking part I had was as a housewife in the 40's. I talk about making sacrifices during WWII but how it seemed insignificant considering what "our boys were going through over there." As I delivered the lines I've delivered a hundred times before, I realized that the men in the audience were "the boys" I was referring to. I couldn't finish without choking up.

We got to the Military Hymns, and I knew I was going to cry through the whole thing. Oh, I did. To hear them clap and the members of these different branches again struggled to get up and be recognized and to see how PROUD they were of their service...to see this sweet little man who stood as we sang the Marine Corps Anthem and he sang along and just wept...it was like nothing I'd ever experienced in my life. We finished by singing the National Anthem and I don't think I was able to get out more than a few words. Our cute Marine friend was crying, so many of us were crying and I felt so proud to have been born in a country where so many are so willing to serve. While I believe most people are pretty patriotic and love the country in which they live, I think (and I could be wrong!) that few have fought as we have for the liberties we enjoy.
 This, without a doubt in my mind, is absolutely the "land of the free and the home of the brave!"

I hope I never forget this lesson. I hope that I never forget those men and women who were so grateful to us for acknowledging them and their service. I hope I can teach this to my children. I know that when I say the Pledge of Allegiance and sing the National Anthem, it will mean something. And when I hear Taps play at 9:00PM over at Hill Air Force Base, I'm not going to remind Jack that it's time to go to bed, I'm going to say a silent prayer for the brave men and women who didn't make it back home to their friends and family and thank them for making the ultimate sacrifice. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." I believe that truly being willing to do it is just as honorable as actually having done it.

We are not a perfect nation. Our government makes crappy decisions and some of my fellow citizens are selfish, ignorant morons. I'll continue to be bugged at politicians and mad at ignorant people who exercise their right to protest stuff that in no way affects their life. Only, deeper than that disgust, I'll feel gratitude for those who sacrificed to make it possible for them to do it.

Now go hug a veteran.