And I'm proud to be an American

I was driving to the gym last week and Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" came on the radio. This song was originally released around the time I was finishing up Air Force basic training back in early 1986 and I was then rather fond of it. Yet last week when the song hit the lyrics, "And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free," I turned the station. I couldn't listen to those words that I once enjoyed. And this really bothered me, and made me sit back and wonder if I've allowed my disgust at George Bush and what I consider the worst presidency in my lifetime, and sense of betrayal at the Republican party's abandonment of long-standing principles for a grab at extended power, to have jaundiced my perspective too much. I consider the invasion of Iraq one of the worst, if not the worst, blunders in American military history, made even more egregious because I believe that intelligence was willfully manipulated, pre-invasion. And I think I'll spend the rest of my life wondering how such a grossly incompetent buffoon, whose only apparent personal accomplishment in life has been to learn how to hold out his hands and catch the nepostistic mana raining down from the skies, could reach the highest position in this country.

But should this disgust toward a transient occupant of the White House be allowed to cloud my patriotism to such an extent? I had the pleasure of listening to retired Major General Ed Mechenbier speak for an hour today. I served with the general in the 178th OANG unit back in the 80s and 90s, and since I worked in the command post I probably interacted with him far more than most other enlisted personnel. Mechenbier used to be a returning guest at the Dayton Air Show each year and I was reminded at what a down-to-earth, humble, funny, and highly intelligent speaker he can be. Gen. Mechenbier was a guest at Hanoi Hilton for roughly six years in the late 60s and early 70s and was the oldest certified pilot still flying for the USAF when he retired in 2004. He spoke at length on his years there, how it was harder on his family than it was him, how he considers himself a very lucky man to still be alive. I sat there listening to how he and his fellow PoW's coined a phrase, "Return With Honor," as a means of resisting the horrible living conditions and torture techniques the Vietcong applied against them and contrasted that with my personal opinions on the Vietnam War (which, to say the least, aren't very positive). It's amazing how broad the spectrum of political thought can be in this country. Here was a humble man raised by a plumber who applied to the AF academy as a means of earning a college degree and a better life for himself (Curtis LeMay was shown in a picture handing him his graduation diploma in 1964. . .Mechenbier says he uses this to properly date himself for audiences), talking about how those choices landed him thousands of miles away from home and family for six cruel years (he suffers physical ailments as a direct result of his torture). I thought about the degree of separation Americans stupidly enjoy from taking responsibility for the actions of our own government as audience members audibly signalled their disgust at the various torture techniques applied against Mechenbier and his fellow PoWs. Yet despite my personal views on Vietnam I hold someone like Gen. Mechenbier in the highest regard. He served his country, a country that affords freedom of expression, of political thought, and paid a higher personal price than 99% of any citizen, anywhere.

As Pat Conroy, my favorite living American author, wrote in his biographical "My Losing Season," there is still more right than wrong in America. He was referring to his involvement in organizing some of the first protests against Vietnam in the American South decades ago, but the sentiment still rings true. I had to leave the auditorium right after the speech and brief questions ended, but one of the officers the MIS shop I work in supports got the general to sign a large AF print for me (I didn't know he was going to do this). Gen. Mechenbier signed it, "John, Glad to see you're still in command. Ret. Gen. Ed Mechenbier." I'm going to frame that print, and hang it in my study as a reminder that there is still more right than wrong with my country. And that I'm still proud to be an American.