Proud to Be an American

When I was in the Provo Missionary Training Center I used to use my daily gym time to take a much-needed break from my companions. Not that I didn't love Elder Parkes and Elder Velasquez (I was in a trio in the MTC), but I had a really hard time adjusting to spending every second of my life with two other human beings hovering around me all the time. But during gym time we were allowed to leave our companions as long as we stayed within the confines of the soccer fields. So I used to go down to the farthest corner of the farthest field and enjoy my precious alone time, which I would usually use to sing a few scales or a Schubert song or two because I was really afraid that I would completely lose my ability to sing after two years without practice.

A few days before our departure for Brazil I was down at my customary corner of the soccer field when it suddenly dawned on me that I was going to leave my homeland behind for two years and live in a foreign country. I looked across the street at the MTC and saw all the row of flags from all around the world, and my eyes fixed on the ol' Stars and Stripes. I suddenly felt extremely patriotic and I put my hand over my heart and sang "The Star Spangled Banner." At the conclusion of the song I was startled to hear enthusiastic applause from behind me. I turned around and saw a group of middle-aged female joggers who had stopped to listen to my performance. A few of them were wiping away tears and they all told me how inspiring it was to see such a patriotic young missionary.

The point is, I love my country. The United States is the greatest place to live and I'm so grateful that I was born here. I feel like all of us Americans feel that way at heart, but a lot of us are guarded about expressing it on days other than the Fourth of July. Recently I've heard a lot of people bagging on the song "I'm Proud to Be an American," both for its content and its aesthetic value. Come on everybody! Are we so jaded that we're embarrassed by the song's straightforward patriotism? "I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I wont forget the men who died, who gave that right to me. And I 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." How awesome is that? Okay, I could do without the "ain't no doubt" phraseology, but it's still a beautiful sentiment and I really am proud to be an American.

I got a great lesson in unselfconscious patriotism during the three summers I spent living in the small town of Wooster, Ohio, where I performed with the Ohio Light Opera company. It's the kind of town where there is an apple pie cooling on every window, a flag waving on every porch, and every other Midwestern cliche you can think of. It was the greatest place to spend the Fourth of July because every year we put on a free concert in the main square, and the whole town came out for the occasion. My friend Anthony wrote a nice post about these concerts last year called "Too Cool for School" in which he really captured the feeling of the experience:

Ohio Light Opera does a little Fourth of July concert on the town square of Wooster Ohio every year. We put together a few little patriotic choral numbers and the orchestra plays. It's really... cheesy... and awesome. I mean both of those adjectives with all my heart. This year we did an Irving Berlin medley and an Armed Forces salute. The music is not great. It's cheesy. But when we stand up on those risers and look out at the veterans stand up and be recognized and then sing to them... that's awesome in the real sense of the word.

The guy I stood next to runs wardrobe for the company and also plays little parts in a few of the shows every season. He had in his music folder a photo of his son who just joined the army last year. He may have thought it was cheesy, but you couldn't tell. He gladly stood up, proud to be an American and said God bless the USA.

Then we went to see the town fireworks display. Keep in mind, this is Wooster Ohio. Of course, that doesn't mean anything to most people. That's my point. The town is small enough that most people don't know it exists. So you'd kinda expect a wimpy fireworks display. Nope. It rocked. These people got it. This is our nation's frickin' birthday! Let's shoot the wad to say happy birthday to Uncle Sam! There maybe problems in Capitol Hill and in the White House, but we don't need to pretend we're too cool for America.

Hear, hear! In summary, hooray America! Last night I went with a big group of friends to Manchester, Michigan for a classic American fireworks display and it was perfect. Last year on the 4th of July I was in Manaus, Brazil, and while I shouldn't complain about being on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Amazon, I really missed being home in the U.S. for Independence Day. I just reread the post I wrote right after getting home from said trip and remembered the tremendous sense of relief and patriotism that have washed over me every time I've returned from a trip abroad:

"Greetings from the Estados Unidos da América. I got back yesterday morning at about 11:00, and I was so happy to be back that I got a little emotional walking through the Detroit airport when I saw such American symbols as the American Flag, an A&W restaurant, and ESPN playing at a sports bar. As much as I love Brazil, its culture, people, music, food, etc., I am American to the core and I'm happy to be back."

God bless the U.S.A.!