"Old Glory" -Fly Her High and Fly Her Often

A week or so ago we (at least some of us) took note of the 70th anniversary of the raising of the American flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima during World War II.  As I was browsing through the various websites about the invasion of Iwo Jima I came across and article . . . . really a letter . . .  written by an Englishman and published in the Stars and Stripes Magazine on November 9, 2009. 

Here is what he said: "Since being just a little boy Mr. Rosenthal’s photograph fascinated me, I thought it was a wonderful image. Still to this day this photograph moves me. However, now I know the stories of the men (boys really!) who raised it, and their stories makes the image come to life."

"For me, as a little boy, I was too young to really know that the American Flag belonged to another country (me being English) and so, for just a while, this flag was my flag too. It was only later I learned that my flag was the Union Jack. and Old Glory was American, and not mine at all."

"But I really can recall when Old Glory was mine, and that I was, for just a short time American too! I cannot explain why, but when I think back to then, I get a feeling of belonging, and that the stars and stripes feel right. Perhaps in England the flag is not flown as often as the Americans fly theirs, perhaps it is because we see the respect the American flag receives wherever it is aloft, the sense of unity appeals to me a great deal, and I love the way Americans are proud to be Americans."

"Whatever it is, I know this to be true. The most fantastic melting pot on earth, took all nations, and produced one fantastic country of people from all over the planet who live together. Just look at Joe Rosenthal’s photo, and see a Pima Indian – a Czechoslovakian- a French American – and English/ Irish Americans! All around one flag. For me, that is what makes America Great."

"My respect to the Flag raisers. To the flag raisers respect for their own fallen comrades. Those that did not return, and to the United States Marines."

As I read those words I too swelled with pride and my eyes filled with tears. My pride was in the fact that it was my country and my countrymen who accomplished this task on their way to finishing the destruction of the Evil Empire of Japan (That's what it was in those days) and set multiplied millions of people free to follow their own destinies.

I was also proud that it was not an American that voiced these sentiments but an Englishman. A boy who not fully recognizing the significance of country for that moment in time thought of himself as one of us. It was one of those, "I wanna be like you Joe" moments.

I was also proud of the fact that he in later years recognized that Americans are not a  homogeneous group of people. We are made up of people from all over the earth. Those men who raised that flag on Suribachi that day represent only a portion of national origins of the men and women who fought that war and make up the population of the land we call The United States of America. Call it a "melting pot" or a "Salad Bowl" but make no mistake about it that while we came from all parts of the earth with a wide range of cultural backgrounds it was this land that took that heterogeneous group of people and blended them into a homogeneous nation.

That's what is so remarkable about the America in which I grew up. We may had our differences. Often separated by culture, language, economic status and a hundred other things we were still fundamentally "One Nation Under God."  By the way, that "One Nation Under God" among other things means that as a nation we answer to no one else on earth. We do not seek the approval of other nations for our actions.

 In a sense our fathers were far more independent than we. When my ancestors came to these shores (maternally to North Carolina in the 1690's and paternally to Virginia in 1740's) it was literally them against the world. There was no government that was going to come to their aid, provide for their needs, care for their aged, etc. It was all on their creative shoulders. And they did it. In carving out a spot for their families in this great land they managed along the way to create the greatest country the world has seen.

Was it easy? Certainly not! Did it happen overnight? Absolutely not! Did they always get along? Of course not! Were they in agreement politically, religiously etc? Absolutely not. There were challenges to overcome, barriers to be removed, walls of separation to take down, and adversaries to be defeated. But the land on and from which they lived shaped them into a single people. It was this struggle to build a new life in a new place that made them strong and the nation was just a by-product of that struggle.

I can only agree with the Englishman who wrote that piece with which I opened. That monument symbolizes far more than or victory on Iwo Jima. It says, that regardless of our national origin and how proud we are of it when push comes to shove we are one and all Americans. 

The other thing that made us great was the fact that at our core we were fundamentally a good people. To be sure we have had our tyrants and our scallywags. We have not always been kind to one another. But I suggest that was a part of the process of becoming "One Nation Under God." At our core and in our families we were good to one another. Why, because we knew and understood each other. The larger family took more time for us to get to know each other and overcome our fear and mistrust of each other that was born out of either our ignorance or prior national rivalries in the "Old Countries" we had left. We are a people who lived by the adage, "Be not the first by whom the new is tried nor the last to lay the old aside."

Alexis de Tocqueville  after surveying our mishmash of a culture and its people understood  what was at our core and was moved to conclude, “America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” I would say, America is great when she is good and looses something when she is not. Sadly, we may be living in a day when our people are good but those who govern us are not.

 Unfortunately, our leadership seems to think we should be like all other nations. I say we should always speak the truth in love; conduct our national affairs with integrity; our word should be our bond; and our dealings with the rest of the world should reflect core nature of our people . . . .i.e., American are good people because we represent the best of all peoples. Perhaps that is why the rest of the world is beating down the doors to get here.

It was during our periods of common threat (usually war but not always) that we came to know each other; appreciate each other; and trust each other. The survival of our families depended upon the survival of our nation and that hinged upon our coming together as one indomitable force in the world. Potential enemies should never under-estimate power our coming together creates. Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was right . . . America is often a sleeping giant.

And that my friends is why my heart beats with pride and my eyes weep with emotion as I see "Old Glory" . . . the Stars and Stripes flying high in the breeze. It reminds me, that as a united America, united in spite of our differences, we are stronger and more secure than when we allow our differences to brutally divide us. Even, here in Texas where pride runs deeper than anyone other than a Texan can understand, we still look up with pride to that Star Spangled Banner and whisper, "I am fortunate to live in Texas and I am proud to be an American."

Someone has said and I believe it to be true that "being Texan is a state of mind."  It illustrates in a sort of microcosm what I have tried to say about America. Author Mary Lasswell said of Texas, "I am forced to conclude that God made Texas on his day off, for pure entertainment, just to prove that all that diversity could be crammed into one section of earth by a really top hand." What is true of Texas is true of America. We may be Americans by accident of birth or by choice through naturalization but being an American is more than that . . . . It is a state of mind! There are a lot of people who are born in America who aren't American in attitude and there are a lot of immigrants that are more American than some folks born here.

So let us continue to grind away at our differences in the crucible of daily living until we came to appreciate that when we finally bring our differences together we are a better. Then what that produces will be stronger that its parts but all of its parts are required to make that strength.