Written August 6, 2001

WHERE HAS IT GONE? Is it dead? Where is it hiding? Patriotism. It took three dictionaries before I found the word. The small student's dictionary did not have the word entered. The larger office size one had patrimony, patriot, patrol, and patrolman as entries. What has happened to patriotism? Is it sick or just crippled? Finally I found the word in a 1568-page issue, which defined the word as love of and devotion to one's country. Is it old-fashioned?

Well, old-fashioned I am, and proud of it. I believe it would be hard to find anyone who is of my vintage, who worried through WWII who does not feel the same way. That struggle for our country will never be forgotten. I doubt if anyone my age could stand by and watch our flag being desecrated.. I strongly doubt that there is anyone from my age group who does not stand at attention for the flag salute while visions of the battles, the sacrifices, and the mourning pass by in their memories. To us seniors, the flag, which indeed is only a symbol as some state, stands for country, for mothers whose sons are missing, for battles which seemed to go on forever, and for sacrifices made across this big beautiful country. It reminds us of stars hung in windows, some gold for those not returning. That gorgeous design of stars and stripes reminds us of how good it must have looked to soldiers fighting on foreign shores. It is true, I believe, that every thing in this world is seen by different people in a different perception, according to past experiences. I am truly a "flag-waver." I am definitely patriotic.

Anyone who remembers D-Day, the day of the invasion of Western Europe by the Allied Troops will remember lots more. They will remember friends and neighbors, sons, husbands, who were a part of it. Some didn't come back. Some came back scarred. Can you just imagine how much courage it took on their part? Could I have done it? No way! The newspapers every day carried news about the struggles, and of the number of our troops killed. People at home tried to go on to work in aircraft factories, on the farms, in the cities, and in the schools, and tried to focus on the work at hand. They tried to "carry on". Everyone helped the war effort in those days in some way; people of all ages and from everywhere helped to "light their little candles" to help in some meager way for the war, which was supposed to be the war to "end all wars".

V-E Day and V-J Day will always live in my memory. I was doing my war effort as an inter-city bus driver in San Diego, California. But on those days, there was no moving the bus from the terminal at Fourth and Main, as the crowds were in the street, yelling, hugging, crying, and milling. It was a sea of people, moving, dancing, and running. They were ecstatic. They were on a "high", and they were waving flags. They were singing. What a wonderful memory for this young girl from a farm in Nebraska. It is all stored in my memory file, and will never be deleted.

In the small towns, like my hometown, I imagine there were parades, flag waving, some sadness for those not returning, and some anticipation for those yet to return. My sympathies are with anyone who would have dared in my home town to show disrespect for our "Old Glory". Rural people of the Midwest have their minds made up about Mom, home, and country, and they seldom stray from those standards.

While I was busy as a bus driver in those years, my cousin was in the thick of it all as a tail-gunner; my brother-in-law was in Germany in harm's way, another brother-in-law was in the Navy, and my husband was in the Navy welding at the San Diego Destroyer Base. His job was to repair some of the ships that came in crippled. Our family was blessed. All of our immediate family returned to us. My daily trips as a driver took me to the Marine Base, the Naval Training Center, and past the Destroyer Base. I saw many young men who told me they were to be shipped out the next day. I couldn't help thinking of their families and how family members were coping with the worry. Every one of those young men were loved by someone back home. I remember the determination on their faces that they were going to go over to get into the fray to try to make a difference. Were they patriotic? How could they have shown love of country any better?

Countries are like cars, friends, apartments, and mothers-in-law. They are not perfectly perfect. Not always have I agreed with some things our country has done. Many times I haven't agreed with what some of the country's leaders have done. We have made some huge mistakes. However, I shudder at some of the horrible crimes against people that other countries have allowed. We do not have a Holocaust as part of our history. It is not to our credit, however, that we knew it was happening and didn't do anything. Since I don't know the intricacies of running a country, I should not condemn. Sometimes things are not so simple for a large nation as it appears. In the big picture, though, I feel we have shown more compassion for the human being than the other countries.

There is no other country in this world in which I want to live. When all the pros and cons are counted and tallied, my allegiance is with our good old USA. I have come on this road of life all the way from 1921 to the present time, and my country is my pride and joy. Patriotism is definitely in my own personal dictionary.

Yes, I am old fashioned, if that's what it means to be so patriotic that I get weepy-eyed when I watch a parade going by, if that is what it means to get goose-bumps when I hear Kate Smith sing "God Bless America", and if that is why I bristle when I hear of flag burning. Yes, I'm old-fashioned. I am proud to be patriotic. I guess I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy.