IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray
# 190
July 4, 2014
“Red, White and Blue”
A recent poll astonished me, until I thought about the demographics involved. Scantly over a third of the polled Americans claimed they were “patriotic”. If you heard the statistic, you probably were a bit surprised, too — especially if you are over the age of fifty.
Children born after 1970 have never experienced a conflict that drew upon the allegiance of all Americans. The only information they have on World War I and World War II is from scant data among highly edited textbooks.
War exacts a terrible toll on any population. However, when a war draws upon one country to come to the aid of one or a group of other countries finding themselves endangered, losses incurred by the helper nation leave a deep impression.
To a person, Americans supported their soldiers in those costly conflicts. Tracing one’s heritage back even one generation found family members with strong ties to Europe. That sense of family translated into unwavering support for the soldiers and the cause for which they fought: freedom.
It is sad to see that many do not feel that pride we were taught as children. Some of the first songs we sang at school were the “service hymns.” Today, you would be lucky to find a child who knew any one of them.
Let’s set all that aside today and remember that we are the most fortunate people on the face of the earth and belong to a national family that has, with blood and treasure, given untold numbers of people around the globe that precious opportunity to live and breathe free.
God bless America. (You shouldn’t have to think about that at all.)