Today’s Patriotic Quote:

“The government is us; we are the government, you and I.”
Theodore Roosevelt

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Today is National Pancake Day.

To celebrate, IHOP Restaurants is offering each guest a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes.  In turn, make a donation to their national charity partner, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

Helping others is patriotic.  Go have some pancakes.

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The Highest Patriotism

Today’s Patriotic Quote:

 “The highest patriotism is not a blind acceptance of official policy,

but a love of one's country deep enough to call her to a higher standard.”
George McGovern

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American Freedom

 Today's Patriotic Quote:

“The patriot's blood is the seed of Freedom's tree.” Thomas Campbell (1763 –1854)   Minister

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American Freedom

Today’s Patriotic Quote:

“To silence criticism is to silence freedom.” Sidney Hook (1902 –1989) American philosopher

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American Patriotism

Today’s Patriotic Quote:

"A man's country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle."

George William Curtis   (1824 – 1892) American writer

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American Liberty

 

Today’s Patriotic Quote:

“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.”

Thomas Jefferson 

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America Preserving Peace

Today's Patriotic Quote:

"To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace." George Washington —Jan. 8, 1790

Happy President’s Day

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Good American Citizens

Today's Patriotic Quote:

 "We pay a price when we deprive children of the exposure to the values, principles, and education they need to make them good citizens."
Sandra Day O'Connor

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American Politics

Today’s Patriotic Quote:

 "People often say, with pride, ‘I'm not interested in politics.' They might as well say, ‘I'm not interested in my standard of living, my health, my job, my rights, my future or any future.'...If we mean to keep any control over our world and lives, we must be interested in politics." Martha Gelhorn, journalist

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Today’s Patriotic Portrait is of Nicholas G. Xiarhos, a 21-year-old Marine corporal from Yarmouth, Massachusetts.  In July of 2009 he was killed in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan.

 

Xiarhos had returned to the United States from Iraq in October 2008, but changed battalions so he could be deployed to Afghanistan in May 2009.  His mother, Lisa, said he didn’t feel comfortable living an easy life and that he just wanted to fight for his country.

 During his phone calls home, he never complained about the heat or of the stress of combat. He hated attention drawn to the fact he was a Marine, because he said, “There are thousands of Marines, and I’m not any different than they are. ’’

After finishing his service in Afghanistan, Xiarhos had planned to go to college and become a police officer like his father, Yarmouth police Lieutenant Steven Xiarhos.

Paul Funk, Xiarhos’s high school football and baseball coach for four years, remembered him as a motivated, selfless person. “I know he was a good Marine because he talked about serving his country from the day I met him,’’ Funk said. “I know he was doing something that he really believed in.’’

We are grateful for Nicholas’ patriotism and will not forget that he gave his life for our country.

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The Blessings Of American Freedom

"Today’s Patriotic Quote:

"No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation."
General Douglas MacArthur

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American Brotherhood

Today’s Patriotic Quote:

“America is a passionate idea or it is nothing. America is a human brotherhood or it is chaos.” Max Lerner (1902 - 1992) American journalist and educator

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Patriotic Devotion

Today's Patriotic Quote:

“Only by a deep patriotic devotion to one’s country can there be a hope of the kind of protection of the whole planet.” Margaret Mead

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Patriotic Teacher

Patriotic Portrait of Darlene Cantey

As a teacher, Darlene Cantey brings America’s history to life for her students. She teaches at Camden Elementary School in Kershaw County, SC where she encourages her students to send care packages and notes to soldiers through the Letters to Soldiers Project. She also coordinates the school’s Veterans Day program. When her fourth grade students (who she calls Patriots) studied the Revolutionary War they took part in colonial re-enactments at Historic Camden as part of those lessons.

 Cantey started the school’s Veterans Wall of Honor. Students and employees bring photographs of family members that are veterans, or who are currently serving in the military.

In January, because of her patriotism, Cantey was named the South Carolina Veterans of Foreign Wars Citizenship Education Teacher of the Year.

 Her father served in Vietnam, but she said more people should learn to appreciate the contributions of the nation’s military service men and women. “The minute you sign up, you have become a hero,” she said. “And I like for my students to think that.”

Darlene Cantey is a Patriot for promoting the values of our country to her students.

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Patriotism

Today’s Patriotic Quote:

“Take patriotism away, and the nation's soul has fled.”
Edward Mark Deems, 1852-1929, Author

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USA Constitution

Today’s Patriotic Quote:

"Of all the supervised conditions for life offered man, those under U S A's constitution have proved the best. Wherefore, be sure when you start modifying, corrupting or abrogating it." Martin Henry Fischer (1879 – 1962) German-born American physician and author

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Patriotism

Today’s Patriotic Quote:

"What do we mean by patriotism in the context of our times? I venture to suggest that what we mean is a sense of national responsibility... a patriotism which is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime." Adlai Stevenson

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Patriotic Taxes

 Today’s Patriotic Quote:

“In these times of the 'Great Recession', we shouldn't be trying to shift the benefits of wealth behind some curtain. We should be celebrating and encouraging people to make as much money as they can. Profits equal tax money. While some people might find it distasteful to pay taxes, I don't. I find it patriotic.” Mark Cuban

Patriotic Heroism

 Today’s Patriotic Portrait

John F. Baker Jr.,  a retired Army master sergeant,  passed away January 20, 2012 due to a heart condition.  He was 66 years old. 

Baker was awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War  for rescuing wounded soldiers from an ambush and leading a daring counter assault.  

Baker was 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 105 pounds. He made up for his diminutive stature by building up his physique.  While in the Army during the Vietnam War, Baker's remarkable strength helped him save the lives of his fellow soldiers.

On Nov. 5, 1966, Baker's unit was reinforcing a group of American soldiers pinned down near Dau Tieng, close to the Cambodian border.  About 3,000 Vietnamese had taken positions in the surrounding jungle, hiding in underground bunkers and roping themselves to tree branches.

As the U.S. soldiers advanced, the jungle erupted in enemy fire. Camouflaged machine guns spit bullets.  Mortar rounds hit the ground. Snipers in the trees picked off Americans   on the ground.

Baker ran toward the front with another soldier and helped destroy two enemy bunkers.

During the attack, the other soldier was mortally wounded. Baker killed four enemy snipers before carrying his comrade away from the ambush.

Returning to the battle, Baker was blown off his feet by an enemy grenade but recovered to make repeated trips through intense gunfire to evacuate wounded American soldiers much larger than him.

By the end of the two-hour conflict, Baker had recovered eight fallen U.S. soldiers, destroyed six bunkers and killed at least 10 enemy soldiers.

 Baker spent the rest of his tour as a “tunnel rat.” Armed with a flashlight and pistol, he explored the booby trapped, spider and scorpion-infested tunnel network used by Viet Cong guerrillas.

Returning home in August 1967, Baker became a drill instructor. One day, President Lyndon B. Johnson called to invite him to the White House to be awarded the Medal of Honor, the military's highest decoration for valor.

 Baker's selfless heroism, fighting spirit, and extraordinary courage were responsible for saving the lives of several of his comrades, and inflicting serious damage on the enemy.

 After being awarded the Medal of Honor, Baker traveled the country as a recruiter. His repeated requests to be sent back to Vietnam for combat duty were denied. He retired from the military in 1989 and later worked at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Columbia, S.C.

John F. Baker’s heroic patriotism will not be forgotten.  Because of him, more American soldiers were able to come home.   

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