Our nation celebrates its 232nd birthday today, and that's why we party hard with fireworks, ice cream, flags, cookouts, campouts, or just relaxing in the recliner. It's a great day to have fun, with the great United States of America as the
party excuse.
However, do be sure to read the editorial on this page to the left of me. It's important to remember that it took 232 years of hard work to build up today's festive mood.
Along those lines, I began thinking about, during my lifetime, what might be the 10 moments when I was most proud to be an American.
I'm hoping you all will reflect on your own personal feelings. Here are my
Top 10, in no particular order:
MAN ON MOON
I'll never forget my Dad's words as he lay on the couch watching our old black-and-white television set on that July evening in 1969.
"Son, sit down. I want you to watch this. You're watching history," he told me.
So, I sat, and I watched the first man to step onto the moon.
It was fascinating stuff, so much
It became personal when I watched them plant Old Glory on the moon, and then salute her.
That let me know right then and there that the sky is NOT the limit, and that by the grace of God, I live in a land where dreams are not only possible, but encouraged.
EAGLE SCOUT
Everything about the Boy Scouts pointed toward good citizenship.
"On my honor, I will do my best, to do my duty, to God and my country," we pledged.
We saluted the flag on every occasion.
We wore the flag on our sleeves, and we practiced good deeds in our country's name.
The Boy Scouts and baseball were two key ingredients to keeping me out of trouble as a youth, because in the rural area where I lived, miles from the nearest town, that was all that was offered a young boy.
I quit the Scouts after, at age 16, I got a car and a girlfriend.
I rejoined after my baseball coach made a wish on his death bed that I finish getting my Eagle Scout medal, and so I did. Turns out, it is the No. 1 thing that still impresses people about my resume. People notice such commitment to duty, and the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are wonderful, patriotic organizations.
Understanding sacrifice was among the lessons, which leads me to my next moment...
THE UNIFORM
One of my Top 10 moments when I'm most proud to be an American is an ongoing one. It is anytime, anywhere, I see an American man or woman in uniform.
There was a TV commercial not long ago that showed American service members in fatigues walking through an airport with gloomy looks on their faces. Then, one by one, travelers in the terminal began standing and clapping for them. Soon, the entire airport was in a frenzy salute to this procession of American troops beginning their journey to harm's way.
I saw this same scene play out once in the Atlanta airport, and just like the commercial, it nearly brought tears to my eyes.
I give a hearty salute to all those who serve, and have served, our United States of America.
You're darned right, our freedom doesn't come cheap.
I thank God for every one of them.
PLAY BALL!
Now, really, just how much more Americana does it get than to take off your cap, hold it across your heart, find the American flag waving in the breeze, and sing the national anthem before hearing that yell echo around the stadium, "Play ball!"?
Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet used to be an advertisement jingle.
All four stuck with me.
Baseball in this town is as big as it is anywhere, and I enjoyed coaching varsity high school baseball this past season for the first time in several years. One of my favorite moments to be on the field is for that national anthem.
Every time I stand on the base line, hold my cap over my heart and stare at the flag from a baseball field, it reminds me of yet another element America provides me: fun.
Not everyone living in other countries can do what we so much take for granted, such as the simple act of getting on a ball field to play games without fear for our lives.
I love baseball, and one reason is because it represents the fun America offers.
ZULU VILLAGE
Among my many blessings in travel as a journalist, I was sent to South Africa. One of the stories I worked on was to spend time in a Zulu tribal area known as the "Valley of a Thousand Hills," just outside of Durban near the Indian Ocean.
The valley was bloodstained from years of violence, and before going down the one, steep road descending into the valley, the last thing I saw up top was an armored truck parked near the gate with a mounted ma-chine gun aimed at me.
Down in the valley, I met a British missionary worker who led a weekly church service in the all-purpose community building. She invited me to attend, and soon I found myself meeting everyone in the audience as they approached me, speaking Zulu, and the mothers offering to let me hold their babies.
When I finally settled down into a chair, one
4-year-old girl in particular was left with me, as she seemed quite content to sit in my lap. The missionary worker gave me a book to show the girl, as we sat at the very back during the service. The girl was glued to each page, unable to take her eyes off of the book, even an hour later.
Why was she so fascinated with this book, I asked.
"Because it is the first book she has ever seen in her life," the woman told me.
Educational opportunity is yet another reason I am proud to be an American, and as I often say, sometimes travel is the best way to understand how blessed we are to live in the United States.
This moment with the girl drove that point home for me.
OLYMPIC GOLD
The steroid scandals certainly put a damper on this for many of us, but there still is that moment of pride when we excel at the Olympics.
Winning the gold medal means hearing your country's national anthem. I am always proud to hear it, and especially on the world stage.
CHICKENS AND EGGS
Believe it or not, another time I was proud to be an American is when I felt like I became a contributor to the ideal of free enterprise.
One of my first money-making jobs as a youngster was raising chickens and selling eggs, which we sold for 50 cents a dozen. Good customers would get a double-yoke egg or two in the batch.
My first billfold soon had five or six $1 bills in it, and I would show them off to everyone like a deck of cards, with each dollar bill fanned out. It was big doings for a little boy.
George Washington never looked so good.
SEPT. 11, 2001
Who among us living that day will ever forget it?
It was one of the worst and one of the best days in American history, all in one.
You already know why it was bad.
If you're an American, and you love America, then you also know why it was good.
BIBLE SCHOOL
Every summer, there were a few things in particular that stood out about that one week of Bible School.
Making arts and crafts was fun, the Kool-Aid was refreshing, but carrying the flags in for opening ceremonies each day was really cool.
Funny, isn't it, how such a symbolic gesture can mean so much for so long.
WORLD WAR II
No, I'm not nearly old enough to have lived during the war, but I did write a book about it.
"Colorado's Lost Squadron" was a book released and sold during 1998 that documented more than 100 stories of military aviation incidents and oddities that occurred in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region during the war years of 1941-45.
It gave me the opportunity to meet many of our veterans who served in that war, and I couldn't agree with Tom Brokaw more in calling it our greatest generation.
I've never been more proud to be an American than to sit and listen to our veterans, such as those from World War II, who sit and talk about the sacrifices they had to make to literally keep this country free.
Thanks for giving me your time to share with you my personal list of favorite memories and moments to be an American. I have many more and the list could go on for days. I hope you feel the same about yourself, and that you will reflect on that today.
God bless America.
Happy Independence Day!
Troy Turner is the editor of The Daily Times. He can be contacted at P.O. Box 450, Farmington, N.M. 87499; or at tturner@daily-times.com.
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