Give your patriotism a boost here: Share what makes you feel patriotic

[Cousin Hepcat]

Just stopping by to say...

This thread is for you to share what makes you feel patriotic. Not just of America; this is for board members in other countries too.

Seeing this video again of Frank Sinatra's ode to the Brooklyn Bridge almost brought tears to my eyes; for some reason it really touched a nerve; I haven't felt so proud to be an American for a while as the feeling I get watching this one from 1947, a feeling I have desperately missed for a while, so I had to post it:

(I'll be adding other obscure but outstanding swing era videos to my youtube channel, user "that1940sguy", so keep an eye out)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PpLm30QzYo

So, what makes you feel patriotic of your country (any country)?

Hope everyone's well,
- CH

 

[JohnnyGringo]

I feel a tremendous sense of both pride and patriotism every time I see my youngest son dressed in his United States Marine Corps Dress Blues- Semper Fi!

 

[Classydame]

Star Spangled Banner...

Everytime I hear it I get chills, even more so now after watching "John Adams" and just seeing what those men and women sacrificed to build a new country.

Shellie

 

[Geesie]

Golden age skyscrapers. Warships. Locomotives. Buicks.
Essentially, the combination of size, power, and style that has been a hallmark of American design.

 

[Rachael]

Dissention without fear of reprisal

 

[PADDY]

God Bless America...(she does it so well)

This brings a lump to my throat and a tear to the eye. The lady does this one so well. And, I believe, it's an oldtime National Anthem to boot.


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[DavidVillaJr]

America The Beautiful - as performed by the one and only Ray Charles...

Oh beautiful....for spacious skies....amber waves of grain...

I'm getting chills on the back of my neck just hearing it in my head.



Our town has a program where American Flags are posted all along the two main streets on any significant American holiday. Flag Day, Independence Day, 9-11, Veteran's Day, etc. It's really something to see when you're out on one of those days. Gives you a lump in the throat...

dv

 

[Fletch]

My hometown, my university, my house, our variegated natural bounty, our richness of native cuisine, our multicultural legacy of verve and ferment, our endless inventiveness, the timeless thrum of the railroads, the U.S. Navy Band, the public library system, the taste of fine old bourbon, Title IX, Sinatra singing The House I Live In, the films of Frank Capra, the presidency of Harry S Truman...

 

[Mike1939]

Watching the movie 'Mr. Smith goes to Washington' (1939) does it for me.

 

[Edward]

Interesting question. It's a rare occasion indeed when I do patriotism. Without getting into the politics of it, I've always found the idea of loyalty to country of one's birth based on little or nothing more than the accident of having been born in that political or geographic territory rather an odd concept. That said, there's few will fell more Irish than me when the Pogues are playing, or the Irish are giving the English a good thrashing at some sport or other. lol

 

[Lady Day]

Good to see you back, Bobby

LD

 

[52Styleline]

I get shivers when I hear a band play Anchors Aweigh. It brings back so many memories...good and bad.

We have large Air Force and Army bases nearby, so military folks are common everywhere. Several days ago, I saw a young Army man in uniform carrying a baby and leading a toddler...The little boy was talking to his Dad about why he was leaving in a few days and the Soldier was explaining that he had to go fight the bad people so that the boy and his Mommy would be safe. I had to walk up to the young man and thank him for his service - with a lump in my throat.

 

[Maguire]

Back in Ireland seeing the beautiful old castles and some of the unchanging smaller towns, looking at a cemetery where the graves date back 4 or 5 hundred years definitely gives me a great deal of hope for the future there, along with the great deal of history

 

[vintage68]

Paying my taxes, then having the gub'mint use it to bail out ceo's.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I've never had much difficulty feeling patriotic and proud of my country.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKCVS57j284
HD

 

[Dixon Cannon]

We The People...

Quite simply, reading the Constitution of the
United States of America and the Bill of Rights
and renewing my oath to protect it from enemies,
both foreign and domestic - especially domestic! :eusa_clap

-dixon cannon

 

[Spitfire]

I really do not share some of the very patriotic feelings here. Like Edward I find the concept of being special patriotic to a place where you - for some reason - was born, quite strange.
On the other hand I feel a very strong realtionship to Europe, being a European means something to me. The history and the culture. And I feel just as easily at home in Italy, England, Norway or Ireland as in Denmark.

That being said, there is nothing like Denmark on a bright summers day.
Rødgrød med Fløde, a cold beer, the sea, the green forrests...

 

[Nighthawk]

Hmm, tough question. I think that uber-patriotism is dangerous.

That said, I feel nothing wrong with studying and loving the culture that I grew up in.

I guess that here in the U.S., one of the most patriotic things one can do is vote. I'll likely stay up all night on Election Day (or at least until there is a definitive winner), even though I've got class at 8:05 am the next day. I'll definitely have to haul out a case of beer. :cheers1:

NH

 

[Miss Neecerie]

I am probably the -odd- one out in terms of patriotism.

The culture that most of my family was raised in, believes firmly that you should not make an oath or pledge loyalty to anything or anyone besides God.

They thus all grew up standing in respectful silence in school while the Pledge of Allegiance was said, and so forth.

While my mother did not raise me that way (she had the utter gall to marry someone outside the group)......it still colors how I see things.

I have never been flag waving patriotic. Most of the things that people have listed here do not make me have any emotional response.

But that does not mean I am not happy or proud that I am an American.

I just don't seem to have the ingrained cultural patriotism that America and Americans are so famous worldwide for having.

 

[LizzieMaine]

When I'm in the voting booth.

(And another welcome-back to Cousin H!)