On Politics 6/16/09: Renewed Patriotism

I've just returned from five days in Alexandria, Virginia, directly across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. We traveled down to attend the wedding of a family friend, and took the opportunity to add to the trip with a few extra days in order to allow our children their first chance to visit some of our nation's most important monuments, memorials, and mementos.

It's an interesting experience to go through again, remembering your own trips there as a child or young adult, and trying to impress upon your children the importance of what they are walking through or staring at. The immediate glaring difference to me from my youth was the literal diversity of the people we encountered in our visits to the sites. As an American, it's a very proud thing to see the representation from all over the world at your most significant historical locations.

To give one example, we were resting on a bench adjacent to the Vietnam Women's Memorial (it, like the corresponding men's memorial at the entrance to the Vietnam Wall, was striking in its' complete detail of facial and body features), and a tour group walked up. Listening closer to the guide and participants, we could clearly understand that this collection of people were from Germany. Thinking of their country of origin, I found it extremely interesting to contemplate that citizens of a country we defeated in the world's greatest war would be at the victor's country touring their memorials of that conflict. I, for one, have never given consideration to visiting the monuments of Germany or Japan, honoring those we fought as our enemies.

Taking that line of thought through, perhaps it was coincidence. I would prefer to think of it otherwise, that, judging by the racial complexions of the visitors and the multitude of languages overheard (at least 7 out of every 10 we heard were non-English, or accented English from Australia or England), it represents a testament to our process of democracy and freedom that drew the these people here. These people, from all over the world, are bearing witness by visiting our remembrances to the people and events that have brought out country this far, that still draws immigrants from everywhere else, to be part of what is uniquely ours'.

It's hard to find better proof of our success.