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In the wake of the long Independence Day weekend and an inbox filled with headlines of senseless crime in Indianapolis, I keep coming back to one special hour Friday morning when all the world seemed right.
My two little girls were proudly waving American flags, a marching band played and vintage tractor after vintage tractor rolled by in celebration of our country’s 249th birthday. There in Sheridan’s Biddle Memorial Park under a shade tree, we gathered as a family and as a community sitting side by side with no agenda other than to celebrate our nation and what it represents.
As the day-to-day priorities of life regain their hold, the spirit of patriotism that united us that Fourth of July morning has the potential to fade like smoke from a spent firework. We simply can’t let it. Patriotism matters now more than ever. In a world that has become politically polarized and plagued by divisiveness and social media-fueled fervor, we must move beyond treating patriotism as a once-a-year emotion and instead embrace it as a daily action to preserve our freedom, strengthen our communities and build the next chapter of our state and nation even stronger.
In his first State of the Union address in 1982, President Ronald Regan drew upon words from President George Washington to remind a then Cold War-era populus that the “preservation of the sacred fire of liberty” is “finally staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.” Those words still ring true today.
Patriotism calls on us to not stand idly by but to take an active role in advancing our society for the betterment of our shared future. It is essential to the American way, made possible by the selfless service of the millions of men and women who swore an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic” in the U.S. military.
Today, roughly 6% of U.S. adults are military veterans; that number was about 18% in 1980. Despite the declining percentage of the population, these brave men and women are all around us. They lead in our businesses, our schools, our communities and some have continued their service in elected office. In fact, Indiana is one of only two states in the country whose U.S. senators are both military veterans—Sen. Todd Young having served in the Marine Corps and Sen. Jim Banks having served in the U.S. Navy.
As a veteran myself, I am honored to have served in the U.S. Army and work every day to prioritize patriotism and make this place a little better than I found it for my daughters and for future generations of our community. I am not unique, and patriotism isn’t exclusive to veterans. It is a powerful American force that is an inclusive call to action for all of us to work together to overcome the challenges facing our generation. Much like the spirit that united our founding fathers, it simply requires resolve, selfless service and a decision to act.
Now is the time to turn patriotism into a year-round action. It will look different for everyone. It might be mentoring a student, volunteering to create a safe place for youth, running for elected office or even serving in our military.
How you choose to serve is up to you, but that is a choice America and our future generations are counting on you to make.•
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Frazier is president of IBJ Media. Reach him at [email protected].
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