Personal Stories from Life in My Country, America…
I was born in the summer of 1945 at the tail end of WWII. My father was a B-29 pilot in the Army Air Corps flying missions in the Pacific. I would not comprehend this fact for many years as I grew in the ability to understand. However even as a 3 to 5 year old I recall standing under the massive wing of a B-29 during military ceremonies. Looking up at Dad in his dress blues and medals flashing light he was a god of war though he was a gentle parent.
Dad had decided to stay in the service. He loved to fly and America was the most powerful military in the world after the war. Our family possessed a strong love of country and pride in being an American.
Mom and Dad came from Southern families whose descendants were immigrants fleeing poverty and hunger. Their relatives in Western Europe risked everything to sail to this brand new country because of its promise. On both sides of my family, they had first generation experience of oppression, whether by oligarchs and tyrants, or by the Church.
America promised government by the people, for the people. Most struggled here as well in the beginning when only white men owning a certain amount of land could vote. However, there was the possibility of changing that law.
What the new American government envisioned were high ideals and virtuous conduct by leaders and citizens alike. Being realists, however, they formed a set of laws and checks and balances that would assure we met those ideals and conduct best we can, striving together.
As a child I learned about these ideals and laws gradually as I was old enough to understand them. My parents, teachers, church, community leaders, and civic groups a plenty (Brownies, Girl Scouts, Eagle Scouts, 4-H), clubs in high school and university: debate team, band and orchestra, honor societies, sororities and fraternities, etc.) were foundations for us kids coming up in a nation guided by those values and virtues our forefathers aspired to for the new nation.
America was and still is a dream we aspire toward, operating with the consent of the people and guarded by laws. As a child up to the age of 15, I felt safe and challenged to live as an American. I felt a responsibility to its continuation, emulating my parents and other adults in my small world. Community was what I remember the most. Cultivating a sense of responsibility toward others and toward our country.
This was a joyous habit of mind which we celebrated at home, school, church, community and as a nation. The 4th of July and my birthday just a day later, were often celebrated together. Perhaps that is why I have such love of America’s Constitution and its many institutions that cultivate the high calling of constant vigilance against tyranny that is the collective burden of all of us.
By the time I turned 16, I realized that being American was not something you get, like a diploma, but a lifelong commitment if we want to keep it. The dogs of war, greed and tyranny are always nipping at Liberty’s heels.
To be continued….
Susan Feathers 