Patriotism

Authors note: The prompt to this essay is "does patriotism still matter?" This essay is mostly about how I think that patriotism does still matter, and also about how not just people in the military are true patriots. 

The tears roll down her cheeks as her loved ones carry the coffin out into the hearse.

She had always had a bad feeling about her husband going to war. She had always had that gut feeling something bad was going to happen. Her husband loved his country and devoted his life to it. True patriots come in many shapes and sizes. They are true Americans who love their country, and they deserve to be honored and respected, because patriotism still matters.

Patriotism: devoted love, support, and defense of one's country. When people think of patriotism,

they immediately think about soldiers, about all of the people over in Iraq and Afghanistan. These people are all true patriots, but we forget about the people that are over here, in our country. Just look at the firemen, police officers, teachers, or our mayors.

By 1965, there were thousands of American troops in Vietnam. By then the war was in full

swing, with tons of Americans dying, and tons of people in the US sad for the troops that were losing their lives, and their loved ones. My third cousin, Larry Smith, was a troop in the Vietnam War. I never got to meet him, but my dad has told me stories. He said that Larry told him that he learned how to load a machine gun with his eyes closed, but never once got the chance to load one in battle. My dad asked him what he used instead. And Larry said, a knife. In one of the battles he was wounded, and thought to be dead. He sat still, pretending to be dead, for two days after the battle was over, waiting for the Vietnamese to leave so he could escape. Luckily, he lived to tell that story.

Her smile stretches from one ear to the next when she sees him walk out of the terminal. She runs over and gives him a hug; a hug she’s been wanted for so long. He squeezes her so hard, he’s afraid he could be hurting her. To be an American citizen is a true honor. We live in a country that is well protected, and well run. But it wasn’t always that way; people had to work to get our country to be the way it is. These people are true patriots, and we all owe them a huge thank you.