Comments on: When I Fell In Love

By: cialic

cialic — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 07:26:33 +0000

Excellent article, for the 6 months I read your blog and I want to thank you for your work

By: lauren

lauren — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:13:38 +0000

I think I fell in love with America when I took my son to Ellis Island where my family’s journey in the United States began. My grandparents, all from Ukraine, came here as young men and women with nothing much but hope for a better life. They were from little villages like the one you see in “Fiddler on the Roof”. They had endured persecution in a country run by tyrants who had little concern for justice. They had neither a good education or money, but were willing and able to work hard to provide a better life for their children in a country that revered individual rights and freedom.

As we looked at the pictures of the Ellis Island immigrants, I remembered the words of my grandpa Daniel (my son’s namesake). He told me that as the boat approached the New York Harbor, they all came up on deck from the steerage compartment. He said the Statue of Libery seemed to be welcoming them and he and many others were weeping as they passed by and their new journey in a new country was to begin. I appreciate so much what they went through to give their future generations a better life and I will never take my freedom for granted.

By: Paul Amrozowicz

Paul Amrozowicz — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:31:57 +0000

For me, it occurred in May of 1986. I was returning from an extended deployment on the nuclear powered fast attack submarine, USS Permit (SSN-594). We had spent six long months away from the United States; much of the time cruising off the coast of Kamchatka (remember the Cold War?).

In any event, when we finally returned to the U.S. that early May morning, it was to Bangor, Washington. I had the pleasure of being stationed up on the deck as we were cruising slowly to our berth. The majesty of the mountainous terrain and green forest left me in awe. The slow cruise to port also led me to reflect on what a great country I served.

Most significantly, I was led me to reflect upon the fact that this country is great, not because I served it, but because it had served me. Not by entitlements or equality of outcome, but by the holding fast to the principle that each individual citizen has a God-given right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.