FROM VIETNAM TO PATRIOTISM: REFLECTIONS ON WAR AND NATIONAL IDENTITY

I’ll tell you this: the war changed us. My buddies and me. For better and for worse. There was no going back to those young men who first set foot in Vietnam. The war took something from us, something we could never get back. The scars were on the outside, sure, but the real damage was what we carried inside.

But we never regretted serving. Never. When we got together, we’d stop and salute a flag without thinking, just out of respect. We loved this country, even if it had done us wrong. The U.S.A. — it’s not perfect, not by a long shot. It’s full of contradictions and arguments, but in the end, it’s fantastic. There’s no other place like it.

In this country, nothing’s sacred. Everything’s open for ridicule, for debate, for a good fight. We argue, we fight, and when it’s over, only one side stands.

Do you want something to move inside America? It’ll move fast. Nothing stands still, even out in the country. And if there’s a new technology, we’ll be the first to grab it because we want it. There’s thirty-five million of us, and no matter what anyone says, the power we’ve got in our hands is something else.

We love our families. Our sports. We love making money. We love our schools, our winners, our institutions. We love and hate our politicians, but no…