[Nfbk] Remember Your Country

[Joey Couch]

"Remember Your Country"

A story set in the early 1800s tells of Philip Nolan, a young officer
in the United States Army who is caught up in a plot to overthrow the
government. Convicted of treason, he swears in rash anger that he
wishes never again to hear the words “the United States of America.”
The judge decides to grant his wish, and he is sentenced to a life of
exile. Those around him are ordered never to speak to him of America.
He comes to be known as “The Man without a Country.”

Years later, a remorseful Nolan pleads with a young sailor:

“Remember . . . your Country, and that you belong to Her as you belong
to your own mother. Stand by Her, boy, as you would stand by your
mother.”

Then he adds, “O, if anybody had said so to me when I was of your age!”1

Each of us has a land we call our own. It may be the place where our
family has lived for generations. It may be the country of our birth
that we left long ago. Or it may be an adopted nation we now consider
our home. By virtue of our heritage or our loyalty, we all feel
connected to a country.

Love of country inspires men and women to give their very best, even
their lives if necessary, to uphold its freedoms. In faraway places or
just down the street, we stand tall for the worthy values and
principles espoused by our nation. When fellow countrymen are in
trouble, we reach out to assist them, defend their rights, and rebuild
their lives. The bond of common citizenship unites us and strengthens
us in spite of differences of race, religion, or politics. The
commitment we swear to our country is, at its heart, a promise to help
one another.

We all have a country. It may not be the largest, the richest, or the
most powerful, but it deserves our loyalty and our love and our best
efforts to make it better. We can say with hope and faith, “God bless
this land.”

1. Edward Everett Hale, The Man without a Country (1897), 40–41.










-- 
Joey Couch
phone 606-216-8033.
email ki4vjd at gmail.com
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