Rebuilding Patriotism...

Good Evening Everyone,

I apologize for such a long delay in updating this blog. We have been very busy preparing to head home.

Tonight we went down to the soccer field to play a game. As I watched the final minutes of the game before ours, I was struck by the pride that each team has in their heritage. We have a truly multi-national club here in Balad. We have teams from Uganda, Britian, Australia, Ireland, and the United States. We all play the game we love and we take pride in representing our country, even if it a small game in the middle of the desert.

As I contemplated this display of pride, my thoughts drifted back home to the United States. We here in the military as well as in the general population of the U.S. are a group of many nationalities. We are a melting pot, a wonderful experiment that provided amazingly wonderful results. The problem though that I have seen over the last twenty years, is that our young people have seemingly lost their pride in being a citizen of the United States. Americans who have a Hispanic, African American, Irish, Russian, or any other national heritage, have taken great pride in their roots. In my opinion, this pride is great. It is important to honor our past, but it seems that we have become fearful to proclaim our loyaties to the United States.

We have been a nation of united states for over 2oo hundred years. We have a proud history as well and we should take a great deal of joy in showing our pride for this wonderful country that the Lord has provided for us.

I think that it is important for us to recognize those who went before us to help build this nation. If you look at how we came to be such an important country on the world stage, we must give credit to those who willingly or unwillingly helped to strengthen our home.

We would have never succeeded as a nation without the labor of the African Americans. As slaves, they are the people who did the hard work of building this country. The Chinese people who immigrated to our west coast played an important role in building the continental railroad that connected our people from one coast to the other. The Irish and German people who immigrated to our eastern cities worked in deplorable conditions for companies that produced our textiles and built the foundation for the United States in becoming the largest producer of goods in the world. The French provided us with military support that allowed us to win our independence from Great Britain. Spaniards landed in Mexico and in Florida and moved throughout our fledgling country and established many of our early cities. And even the Native Americans who met our first foreign settlers on the Mayflower, provided much needed agricultural guidance to our forefathers.

The social make up of our nation has a wonderfully diverse history. However, weather we come to this land on a slave ship from Africa, or a cutter ship from Europe or a cruise ship from Ireland or China, today we are all in the same boat. We are Americans. We are citizens of The United States and we should be proud of that. We should display 'Old Glory' in a place of prominence and honor and we need to let the world know that no matter where we came from we are moving forward as one people under the banner of the United States of America.

I am saddened when I see our young people rally against the very country that cares for them. I am filled with disappointment when I hear the libral left slam our great nation. Why is there so much hate for the United States among our citizens?

I really don't have an answer for this but I speculate that our young have not had to sacrifice for the freedoms that our forefathers and mothers have given to them. Our youth have had everything handed to them as a gift rather than as a product of their labor. As a result, they have no loyalty to that which was provided for them.

How do we correct this problem? Well, I don't think there is one answer or a quick fix, but there are things that we can do to bring pride back to the hearts of our people. One thing that we should consider is the return to the draft. Now, drafting young people for conscripted service is not exactly a politically correct thing to do, so I would suggest a modified draft. Most of the developed nations have a mandatory service requirement for its young people. It works well and such service helps to instill a sense of pride in these young adults as they have now given a part of themselves to maintaining and caring for their country.

I think that our graduating high school students should be required to devote at least one year of their life to servicing our country. This service does not necessarily need to be military service. I think that we could use this population to work in our national parks, serve on a crew that builds our roads and infra-structure, spend a year in Americorp, or work at a VA taking care of those who sacrificed for their country. I think that we would do well to implement a program much like the Tennesse Valley Act which was enacted by FDR. I think that young people need to understand that living in the United States requires a little devotion. Through this devotion, a young man or woman will feel like they have played an important role in strengthening our country.

As far as military service goes, I would support a resolution that would require all citizens between the ages of 18-25 who choose not to agree to the above services to attend a military basic training and military occupational school during the summer after high school graduation and before they start their freshman year of college. If an individual wants to continue with military service than they can sign up for a two, three, or four year enlistment. If an individual completes his or her summer training and decides to go to college than we can place them in the Inactive Ready Reserves. This status will not require any further service in the military unless our country needs them for emergency purposes. If a person decides to perform their summer military training then they would be exempt from serving their year of national service.

This type of service is not a new idea. The United States has had the draft since our founding and lasted up until the 1970's, when we went to an all volunteer military. As far as mandatory service goes, many high schools now require students to perform a certain number of community service hours as a prerequisite for graduation. These programs work well and allow students have the experience of working for a cause greater then themselves.

Mandatory service to ones country should not be viewed as a punitive measure, rather should be cherished as a time to grow and learn the importance of taking part in the building maintaining of our great nation.

The United States has a rich and diverse heritage and we are proud of our diversity. We should also be proud that our diversity has helped to create a wonderfully great nation. We are Americans and we are proud. Stand up for your country and show your pride for the United States.

God Bless you all,

Jeff