233 years ago...

Stand your ground! Don't fire unless fired upon! But if they want to have a war, let it begin here!

Captain John Parker's orders to his troops. Like many good quotes, probably apocryphal - but part of the mythos, regardless, and captures the spirit of the restive residents of Massachusetts.

BY the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, song composed for and sung on
the raising of the Minuteman Statue at Concord Bridge, April 19, 1836.

Where was I - ah, yes. Being a patriot. This week, my Rotary club has been the sponsor of a Group Study Exchange. That is a group of 4 young people, with a Rotarian as the group leader, who are visiting us from a Rotary District in South Korea, just as a team from our district visits theirs.

Quite possibly, there wouldn't be a South Korea if there hadn't been a fight at the old North Bridge. Korea might still be a harshly-managed vassal of Imperial Japan. And if there hadn't been people like 2nd Lieutenant Tim Donovan, in Korea in 1951, there probably wouldn't be a Rotary District that encompasses Seoul.

And that would be sad. Because, among other things, I wouldn't have been able to take our South Korean guests to a concert given by the John Philip Sousa Band. A local organization that honor's Sousa's contributions to music, showmanship, and... patriotism. A volunteer band comprised of many people who teach music in local schools, colleges, and Universities, not necessarily places we've come to expect much in the way of patriotism (though it's there, they are just candles hidden under a bushel-basket).

Fine music, well played. Stuff I marched to in many a march-past, and stuff from operettas, opera, and ragtime.

I sat there in a middle school auditorium with a bunch of middle Americans, some very successful economically, some much less so, most in the middle. Some hale and hearty, some very much worried about whether Medicare will pay the bills. Many own guns. Many do not. And a whole heck of a lot them go to church. And a goodly number of them, like me, do not. Nor was it a lily-white gathering. There were colorful faces scattered throughout.

The penultimate piece of music was the Armed Forces Medley. And the Emcee of the event, Gary Busby, local Kansas City weatherman *and* accomplished musician in his own right, asked that service veteran's stand as their songs were played, that all might recognize those who took (or were forced to take, assuredly) time from their lives to serve.

And as we stood, we were applauded by those who still sat - just as I applauded the sailors, Marines, and Airmen who stood. No Coasties at the concert, apparently.

Leavenworth is a military town. Probably a good third of the audience was on it's feet at one time or another. It was nice. And the Koreans were impressed - they talked about it after.

The closing piece was "The Stars and Stripes Forever" and the audience came to it's feet to clap the beat as the band played on...

I looked around. There were two younger folk, dressed in the garb of Anarchy! and Gothness! who were among the first to get to their feet, and engage in an act of shameless patriotism.

Leavenworth may not be a typical town, with our excessive Federal presence because of the Fort and the US Penitentiary, but I know many of the people in that town - ones who vote Republican, ones who vote Democrat, and ones who mix their votes based on the candidates as individuals. I know the liberals and the conservatives. Oh, I know, the greatly disaffected and much of the youth aren't going to be attracted by a Sousa concert. The auditorium was full, and there was a goodly cross-section of town present.

And they are patriotic, with very little jingoism present. Which isn't surprising, given how many have dodged bullets at one time or another. And many have children in the current fight. We're not a bloodthirsty bunch, really.

But we think the USofA is most generally a damn fine place, and not the source of all woe in the world. Or even most of it. And we find people who insinuate such tiresome and uninspiring.