Patriotism was a word I had been familiar with all my life. It started in the Christian school I attended as a child. Every year the students were required to choose an American patriot and make a speech. We were encouraged to dress like the character we were portraying. I remember being Sacagawea and Dolly Madison. I do not remember my words but I remember the fear of standing in front of a large auditorium of people trying not to make a fool of myself. However, I do remember the words my brother spoke as he portrayed Nathan Hale. His words shook me emotionally and I have carried them in my heart ever since. Hale’s immortal words were his legacy of patriotism to the world: “I regret that I only have but one life to lose for my country”. He was hung after his heartfelt confession. He died giving a legacy of freedom to future Americans. Strangers he would never know but strangers he believed in enough to die for their freedom. Today this same passion lies in the heart of every soldier who swears their allegiance to the Flag. It would not be many years later that I would join those prestigious ranks and find that the price of freedom was even more costly than I had ever imagined.
It was the summer of 1982 and I turned eighteen while learning to disassemble and reassemble an M-16 in less than two minutes. Surviving Marine Corps boot camp was one of the most grueling experiences of my life and it was also the most rewarding. I grew up in those seemingly never ending six weeks of mental and physical torture. I also learned what it meant to care for something more important than my own personal freedom. I too learned to care for a stranger I would never know. Just like the millions who had gone before me.
My greatest moment of personal pride in my country came the day I was chosen to raise “Colors” for the whole of Parris Island. It was early dawn and the sky was a brilliant pink. As I marched my small detail to the yardarm the smell of fresh cut grass permeated my nostrils, and the faint sound of male drill instructors calling cadence could be heard echoing softly in the background. The air was warm and a heady excitement filled me entire being. The Sgt Major of the Marine Corps was present that day making the experience even more exhilarating. As I called the detail to a halt and placed my hands upon that sacred piece of material so reverently referred to as “Old Glory”, I felt as if time had come to a halt. My hands trembled as I clipped that hallowed piece of silk to the yardarm. I felt as if I was personally raising that flag for every American in our country. When she reached the top and the wind unfurled her brilliant beauty to the morning sky I thought my heart would burst with pride and at that moment I knew I would die for each and every one of those people and that they were not stranger at all but fellow Americans who believed in the same country I did.
Today more than twenty years later I still live under the umbrella of freedom that our military provides. I say prayers with my daughter at night and I go to bed and wake up in a free America every day because of a soldier I may never meet. I love that anonymous soldier, because he’s made a promise that on his watch nothing is going to happen to me. I believe the soldier is the greatest picture of a patriot that the world could ever see. His is the single most important act of patriotism, and that act is the willingness to die for a cause and its people. This soldier tells us that even though the ultimate price of freedom may indeed be the loss of his own life. He has determined in his heart that it’s not too high of a price to pay for the freedom of a country he loves.
Democratic Dilemmas and Divine Inspiration examines the significance or relevance of the idea that the U.S. Constitution was, as many believe, divinely inspired. How much did that belief matter to founders of the nation and how much does it matter no
