It was a tense time, with face-offs across the Berlin
wall occurring almost daily.
USAREUR Commander in Chief, General Paul Freeman, was
hosting his counterpart, the Commander in Chief of
the
Group of Soviet Forces in East Germany, General Ivanovich Yokobovski. If war erupted in Germany, one of
these two guys would probably start it. They had never
gotten together before.
This was big stuff.
Best of
the Best
We were at the
parade ground, the band kicked off a rousing march, and one of the toughest-looking platoons of soldiers I had
ever seen came marching in. Forty-eight elite troops of the
British Army. Big, rough, scary-looking guys, marching
with a confident precision in their starched dress
uniforms that said, "Don't mess with England!"
As
they marched by and saluted, the American
parade-watchers saluted right back.
Then came a platoon that looked quite different.
Unstarched camouflage, a bit sloppy, with berets that
seemed to tilt 48 different directions. The French Army
platoon
marched for review in battle uniform, not showy at all.
But we saluted them, too.
Stomping sounds quickly grabbed our attention as
everyone turned toward the parade ground entrance. With absolute,
almost unbelievable precision, the Soviet Army
demonstrated how to steal a show with intense
goose-stepping from 48 Russian troops who obviously
were career soldiers. And proud of it.
We saluted the Soviet troops with the same energy and
respect we had shown the British and French.
The
Americans
Then, I
almost held my breath. Marching into the parade area
came our guys, and immediately I saw the
difference. U.S. Army Rangers were sharp dressers, khaki pantlegs stuffed into spit-shined combat boots,
ascot-like scarves with USARER's flaming sword covering
their Adam's apples.
But that wasn't the difference.
The other
platoons were all the same: British, French, Russian,
but all 144 of them were European white.
In the lead
squad of America's platoon, there were African-American
and Latino troops marching along side Caucasian
soldiers. It was easy to see a couple of Native-American
Rangers in the second squad, and as they marched by, one
of the squad leaders, an oriental soldier, winked at us.
I think
that's where the patriotism, the pride, came from -- the
realization that the first word in the name of my
country is "United."
Puffy?
I think it
might be a little puffy to call the United States the
"greatest nation" on earth. Though certainly we are one
of the leaders.
America has
the largest gross national product and the best
basketball players in the world. Our music is the most
listened to, our movies the most watched, and our soft
drinks the most guzzled.
But we also
have the most violent teenagers, lose more gambling, and
we are only 49th in literacy. We spend more per person
on health care than any other nation, but in terms of
overall health performance, we have dropped to number
37.
Among
developed nations, only Mexico scores lower than the
U.S. in childhood poverty.
Yet we are
so blessed I have no doubt we can remedy these problems
quickly once the majority of our people become aware of
them.
Why?
Everyone
has an idea of why we have been so blessed. I believe
it's because our forefathers had a strong faith, and
they were smart. They guaranteed us
certain inalienable rights: freedoms of speech, press,
assembly and worship. These four freedoms, along with a
strong system of only two political parties, have kept
this country solid and enduring.
Yes, we
have fought, usually to defend others, but our nation's
power has always been in its hearts and minds, not in
its weapons.
Patriotism
is good when it expresses pride in team accomplishment,
but not in feelings of superiority.
We are not
superior. We have been recipients of God's amazing
grace.
And, yes,
on this Independence Day, I hope we feel patriotic and
proud of America. I was proud of serve in her army, and
my chest still swells when I think about the great
things this nation has accomplished.
I pray each
of us
will see things we can do to make America even
greater; that we will continue to see beyond our
differences and continue to be united by our faith,
our brotherhood, and our
love for each other and these "United" States of
America.
