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Barry McGuire sings "I Pledge Allegiance"

What does it mean to be an American?

By Barry McGuire

"America is an eclectic society that my ancestors have been building for the last 200 years. Every race and creed, every nationality and color, have come together from all parts of the world. Some came in chains, some came in bond, some came thinking themselves poor, and others came thinking themselves rich. Together, through pain, struggle and bloodshed a nation has been birthed. A nation like no other that has come before. We have been given an opportunity here to show the world a unity and a brotherhood of mankind that could change the course of human history. If we let this opportunity, that has been purchased by the blood of the millions of men and women who came before us, if we let this opportunity slip away, then we don’t deserve the gift we’ve been given and we don’t deserve to be called Americans."

What does America mean to Barry McGuire?

"I’ve heard that much of the world hates America, and yet millions of individual citizens from those same nations that say they hate us so much and want to destroy us, put their lives at risk, and many of them do actually die trying to smuggle themselves and their families into this land of the Free.

America doesn’t just stand for freedom. America is Freedom! The people of this nation can choose of their own free will to do or be whatever it is they think will bring them happiness. A man or woman living in the streets can wake up one morning and say, "To Hell with this, I’m better than this!" And starting right there, from the lowest rung on society’s ladder, they can climb to whatever level they wish to gain. Limited only by their own dreams and determination to reach that goal, the adventure has no boundaries. They can reach for the stars if they want to. They may only achieve the moon, but opportunity potentials are to be found waiting around every corner.

Last week my gardener, a man who mows lawns for a living, stood with a beaming smiling face and told me he had just bought a new home for himself and his family. Some folks do reach for the stars and some folks actually walk on the moon, then there are those who just work hard and provide a home for themselves and their families. To me that’s what America is all about.