Love of Country

The 4^th of July was always one of my favorite holidays, even before I joined the military.  The last few days I’ve watched the inevitable, over the top comments, especially during this election year.  I was brought up, without ever realizing it, to have a deep abiding love of this country and serving in the military only refined those feelings.  To serve in the military you have to believe in what you’re fighting for.  I think, that, more than any other factor can determine an Army’s success on the battlefield.  I know that a lot of civilians don’t “get it” and at times even ridicule those who do profess a love of country.  To be honest, certain fanatical factions of the far right have attempted to hijack patriotism as their sole property while also serving as the judge of who is “patriotic”.  This could not be farther from the truth.  Patriotism means standing up for the values your country is based on, not on the convenient truth of the latest politician.  True patriotism is found in hating a hateful message but loving the freedom to send it.  If nothing else America stands for freedom, an escape from the notion that your station of birth determines your station in life.  This is such a precious commodity.  I believe in the bedrock decency of America and hold in utter contempt politicians and intellectuals who attempt to denigrate who we are and kow tow their foreign counterparts to curry favor.  They don’t fully appreciate or understand what America means to us.  We as a nation comprise the most startlingly successful expression of the basic human need for individual freedom that the world has ever seen.  Since we are humans we are certainly not perfect but we, as a nation, dare to believe we can be better than we’ve been.   That is the marrow of this country and the profound, immense strength that fanatics will never understand or successfully confront.  Certainly worth fighting for.