God Bless The USA

God Bless The USA
The View from the Middle

Over the past few months we have all been bombarded with claims of how terrible this country is. This country that millions of people risk their lives to get into each year. Some of these claims are absolute lies. Some are exaggerations and some are even true. No person or country is perfect. But what the media and most politicians leave out are the great stories of sacrifice and freedom and accomplishment and acceptance that are an integral part of our history and national legacy. It is what makes this country great and attractive to all of those millions who want to get here.

So, if you only focus on the negative and ignore all the positive you can make even the greatest country in the world sound terrible. Today, however, I received a couple of emails that reminded me of how great we’ve got it in the USA and what a bright future we have. And we have that bright future because of the of the fundamental goodness of our people, the self-correcting system of government our founders put in place and the freedom it guarantees even to those who would protest against it (not those who assault police, destroy property and even murder innocents). Try that in China and see what happens to you!

One email I received was about “The Doolittle Raiders”. This was a group of 80 men who flew 16 planes over Tokyo during WWII. Their original daring plan was to bomb Tokyo and then land in China, because they didn’t have enough fuel to make it back to their aircraft carriers, but that plan was thwarted and they had to take off from even farther out. This made landing in China unlikely, if not impossible. These 80 brave men took off anyway knowing that after their mission was complete they were going to have to fend for themselves in hostile territory. Four planes crash landed; 11 more crews bailed out, and three Raiders died. Eight more were captured; and three were executed. Another died of starvation in a Japanese prison camp. One crew made it to Russia. What an amazing story!! Add to this the thousands of stories and hundreds of books about the bravery and selflessness of Americans on Iwo Jima, at the Battle of the Bulge or on “D-day”. It reminded me of how proud I am of the men and women who fought and died to save Europe and the world from fascism and the brutality of Nazi Germany.

The next email I received was a video of Lee Greenwood and an array of American soldiers. Even with the backdrop of protestors, rioters, looters, arsonists and yes even murderers in the streets of America, it reminded me of how great this country is because it stands for freedom for everyone who lives here. Please read the words to this great song below, and I’ve also supplied a link you can copy and paste into your browser to actually hear Lee and his troupe perform. You will NOT regret listening.

"God Bless The USA"

If tomorrow all the things were gone I'd worked for all my life
And I had to start again with just my children and my wife
I'd thank my lucky stars to be livin' here today
'Cause the flag still stands for freedom and they can't take that away

And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me
And I'd gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God bless the USA

From the lakes of Minnesota, to the hills of Tennessee
Across the plains of Texas, from sea to shining sea
From Detroit down to Houston and New York to LA
Well, there's pride in every American heart
And it's time we stand and say

That I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me
And I'd gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God bless the USA

And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me
And I'd gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God bless the USA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Japc8M8RQw

THIS is what America needs to hear today! God bless you and God Bless the USA.