Resurgence of patriotism unites nation in pride

True American patriotism is something that seemingly had become obsolete before the September 11 terrorist attacks. The unseemly deaths of thousands of innocent people has re-kindled a patriotic fervor in the masses not seen in the nation since World War II. Patriotism is no longer corny, it's cool!

Signs in front of stores typically announcing some sort of sale are emblazoned with messages like "God Bless Ameri-ca," or "United We Stand." Pa-triotic and religious music such as "God Bless America," "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "Amazing Grace" is everywhere.

The Ray Charles recording of "America the Beautiful" has been played over and over again. On the David Letterman show the normally cool and collected Dan Rather broke into tears when he tried to recite the third verse of that song.

So many American flags are being flown that none are available in stores. Until Sept. 11, the demand for flags wasn't great enough for merchants to carry a heavy backlog. News-papers printed full-color photographs of flags to be clipped and hung in windows.

Today, the Stars and Stripes is being flown from homes, government buildings, places of business, streetlights, even cars. On ESPN, I saw a clip of Chicago Cubs outfielder Sam-my Sosa, a citizen of the Do-minican Republic, not the Uni-ted States, waving a small American flag above his head as he rounded the bases after hitting a home run.

Before retiring as a teacher, I would try to explain to public relations students the impact of symbols by mentioning that during World War II, when an American flag appeared in a movie, the audience applauded; if it remained on screen long enough, they would stand in the darkened theater and cheer.

I'm not certain the students understood; after all, they never experienced a time when that sort of patriotism was commonplace.

What had become commonplace was that some twerp with a complaint against America could draw a sympathetic crowd by burning the flag. The Su-preme Court has ruled that burning the flag is Constitu-tionally protected freedom of speech. Today, if said twerp were to exercise his freedom of speech by setting fire to Old Glory, he might not draw a crowd, or he might draw a "disapproving" crowd.

As I understand it, unbridled flag waving began to wane amid the elation of Americans over the long anticipated end of the war; the "boys in uniform" (the ones who survived) were coming home. It was time to get on with lives disrupted by war.

Over time, unpopular wars were fought in Korea and Viet-nam, neither in defense of America; the purpose of both seemed to be to not lose, but surely not win. Heavy American causalities were recorded in both wars; survivors came home to less than the epic World War II heroic welcomes.

Only mild patriotism was generated by the Gulf War. We worked up some animosity against Iraq, but America didn't feel threatened by its invasion of Kuwait. Truth be told, patriotism suffered from 50 years of benign neglect. Well, it's back much to the delight of this observer.

But, of course, a few of the usual suspects rounded themselves up and held a peace march. They carried signs and made speeches indicating that the terrorists who killed thousands of innocent people were rightfully angry at us, and we must not respond with violence. Tell that to the families and friends of the victims.

These protesters didn't get much media attention; usually the media go gaga over such stuff.

I wonder where the demonstrators would be today if the country had followed the calls at the time for a "peaceful re-sponse" to the attack on Pearl Harbor? Elements in control of Japan and Germany then were of the same ilk as the tyrants who carried out the September 11 attacks. It is because young men and women answered the call then and defeated the ty-rants that today's protesters have the right to protest.

As I write this, the country has come together in a way most Americans have never be-fore seen. Ceremonies before baseball and football games are like patriotic love fests. As our National Anthem is sung, players hold flags, some salute the flag. Some even have tears in their eyes.

Firefighters and police officers who died trying to save others as the twin towers crumbled in on them have become heroes. I can't think of better role models to idolize. Amer-ican patriotism is back. Long may it remain!

(Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury Un-iversity.)