A high school social studies teacher took a unique approach to teaching her classes the value of being an American.\u00a0 She had all the student desks removed from her classroom. And, as each period’s class arrived, shocked there were no desks, she said to them, “I want you to have a desk, but before you can have one you have to tell me how you earned the right to sit at one of these desks.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
None of her students could correctly answer the question.\u00a0 Neither could I.\u00a0 So, what have we done to earn the right to sit at one of those desks?\u00a0 Maybe this is a good question to think about this Fourth of July while watching parades, going to family picnics, and celebrating with fireworks.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
This reminds me of a photo I have of the flag passing by in a Fourth of July parade.\u00a0 The only person standing is an aged veteran lifting himself out of his wheelchair.\u00a0 What brought him out of that chair?\u00a0 What put those tears in his eyes?\u00a0 What made him go to war?\u00a0 What did he see in our flag others do not?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
I remember a veteran I met last year.\u00a0 He served in Vietnam, volunteering, not drafted.\u00a0 He came home from the war but without his legs. He painfully remembered being treated rudely because he served in Vietnam, waiting many years before hearing a thank you from a fellow American. I had to ask. If he had it to do over again, knowing what would happen, what would he do?\u00a0 Almost before I finished the question he said, “I would volunteer again; this is my country.”\u00a0 What made him volunteer?\u00a0 What does he see in our flag others do not?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the anniversary of D-Day I watched an interview with one of the surviving Rangers who scaled the cliffs at Normandy, a medic.\u00a0 He said as soon as he stepped off the landing craft, he started caring for the wounded who were piling up on the beach under the incessant enemy fire.\u00a0 There were too many injured, too few medics.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The interviewer asked him if he considered staying on the beach, caring for the injured, rather than going up the cliffs where he knew that more likely than not he would die.\u00a0 He matter-of-factly said he had to go up the cliffs.\u00a0 They were his men and if he did not go he would embarrass himself.\u00a0 What does he see in our flag others do not?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not too long ago, I received an email from another veteran, a retired dairy farmer.\u00a0 Still very much in love with his country, he wrote, “I cherished the opportunity to make decisions as to how to run my business,” adding, “I’m glad I had the freedom to succeed or fail.” I doubt he ever experienced 8-hour days, overtime or minimum wage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
He finished with, “I am a WWII veteran who fought to insure a free country for my children and grandchildren.\u00a0 I only hope my efforts were not in vain.”\u00a0 What does he see in our flag others do not?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
And the teacher’s question? At the end of the day she opened the door to her classroom and in walked 27 United States veterans, all in uniform, each carrying a student desk.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The teacher looked at the students and explained, “You didn’t earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it’s up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens.\u00a0 They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education.\u00a0 I encourage you to never forget it.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
What should we see in our flag others do not?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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