Old Glory Will Forever Fly

I’ve had my share of wins and losses, but one thing I can never lose —
one thing that grows stronger with time — is my love for America.

As
did my father, I followed this nation’s flag to foreign shores, proudly
wearing a military uniform in service of the greatest, most powerful
country on earth. Every day, I salute the flag that draped across Dad’s
coffin. It is the flag that will drape across my coffin … the flag that
will be properly folded and presented to my daughters. It is the red,
white, and blue American flag — symbol of freedom and hope around the
globe.

My favorite actor, John Wayne, who himself is one of the most
enduring symbols of the American spirit, never missed an opportunity to
stand up for his country. In a narrative entitled “America, Why I Love
Her,” he chronicled some of the reasons for his undying devotion to the
land of the free and the home of the brave … the land that celebrates
its birthday every July Fourth.

The Duke’s reasons are among the countless reasons all real,
patriotic Americans should cherish an abiding affection for this
hallowed land:

“Have you seen a Kansas sunset or an Arizona rain? Have
you drifted on a bayou down Louisiana way? Have you watched cold fog
drifting over San Francisco Bay? Have you heard a bobwhite calling in
the Carolina pines, or heard a diesel’s bellow at Appalachia’s mines?

Does the call of Niagara thrill you when you hear her waters roar? Do
you look with awe and wonder at her Massachusetts shore, where men who
braved a hard new world first stepped on Plymouth’s rock? And do you
think of them when you stroll a New York City dock?

“Have you seen a snowflake drifting in the Rockies, way up high? Have
you seen the sun blazing in a bright Nevada sky? Do you hail the
Columbia as she rushes to the sea, or bow your head at Gettysburg at our
struggle to be free? Have you seen the mighty Tetons? Have you watched
an eagle soar? Have you seen the Mississippi roll along Missouri’s
shore?

“Have you felt a chill at Lake Michigan when, on a winter’s day, her
waters rage along the shore in thunderous display? Does the word “Aloha”
make you warm? Do you stare in disbelief, when you see the surf roaring
in at Waimea Reef?

“From Alaska’s cold to the Everglades, from the Rio Grande to Maine,
my heart cries out, my pulse runs fast at the might of her domain.

“You ask me why I love her? I’ve a million reasons why: My beautiful
America, Beneath God’s wide open sky, over which … Old Glory will
forever fly.”

Jimmy Reed