Thread: E-mail: An Ode to America

Received this e-mail:

We rarely get a chance to see another country's editorial about the USA.

Read this excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper. The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title 'C'ntarea Americii, meaning 'Ode To America' in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentulzilei 'The Daily Event' or 'News of the Day' & nbsp;


~An Ode to America~



Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs.

Still, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart.
Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the Army, or the Secret Service that they are only a bunch of losers.
Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts.
Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about.
Instead the Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand.


After the first moments of panic, they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings a nd cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing. On every occasion, they started singing:'God Bless America!'

I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people.


How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put into a collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy.


What on earth can unite the Americans in such a way?
Their land? Their history ? Their economic Power? Money?
I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases wit h the risk of sounding commonplace, I thought things over, I reached but only one conclusion... Only freedom can work such miracles.

Cornel Nistorescu


(This deserves to be passed around the Internet forever.) It took a person on the outside - looking in - to see what we take for granted ! GOD BLESS AMERICA !

That is a great ode to America, and it means more, coming from someone who is not even a citizen of this country.

I think that the apathy we are seeing many Americans today is because they have ALWAYS had their freedom, and they take it for granted, but people in countries who have only recently attained it can truly appreciate it.

I wonder how many people, on the Fourth of July, actually stand up when the national anthem is played? I wonder how many not only just stand up, but get very emotional when they hear the Star Spangled Banner (I know I do and always feel a little self-concious)?

AE--I agree with you. The Pledge of Allegiance, a column of American flags waving in the wind, Veterans marching in a parade, and The Star Spangled Bannor always touches my heart with pride. Taps and the 21 gun salute makes me teary eyed. I truly love the United States of America and am so grateful to be a citizen.

May God Always Bless America!

It's great to see something good said about Americans.

Words from one of my favorite songs: If you don't love it leave it, let this song I'm singing be a warning, if your running down my country, man, your running down the fightin side of me. Merle Haggard

It's called selflessness -- and Americans like no other citizens in the world, have much of it.

I have lived in other countries and there is no where near the generosity of spirit that Americans have. It's cheapness, selfishness, stinginess, and a general me-first attitude in lines, in stores, in any public venue. People in other countries cannot wait in line -- they push a lot and want to be first. It was that way in Europe a lot when we lived there.

And they don't GIVE to charities. They can't, first, because their governments tax their incomes to death, and second, because they dont have the same spirit of generosity and other-centeredness.

This is exactly what I missed about American while we lived overseas on our military assignments -- the American spirit -- there is nothing like it anywhere else on earth. People realy have no idea what it's like to miss it until youv'e lived elsewhere for a while.

You know all, I met a family from Romania who had been here five years. During this time 5 out of 6 of our county commissioners had conducted a secret vote to allow same sex marriage. There had been a really big outcry from the majority of county residents, and the one, conservative commissioner who was left out of the vote.

While this was all going on, I spoke to the lady I had gotten to know, and although they were conservative Christians, they relished the fact that the residents, the voters, had a voice, and that in this country, something might be voted on, that was not a popular subject such as this, but that there was the freedom for open debate and open criticism of the government for their judgement, or lack of.

This woman also cried the first time she got to vote, she had grown up under communistic rule as a child and young woman, and she had embraced America as her own. It made me cry too, I could not help it when she explained how incredibly happy it made her feel to vote and tell the government that she was free enough to have a say in what happened here, she and her parents, had never known that.

She also told me that the first time she heard the Star Spangled Banner play, she cried too.

Originally Posted by MyAmerica

AE--I agree with you. The Pledge of Allegiance, a column of American flags waving in the wind, Veterans marching in a parade, and The Star Spangled Bannor always touches my heart with pride. Taps and the 21 gun salute makes me teary eyed. I truly love the United States of America and am so grateful to be a citizen.

May God Always Bless America!

AMEN to that I totally agree with you GOD BLESS AMERICA.

When I become down or begin to have doubts about my country I think of my dad and the WWII generation who gave selflessly. In my opinion, they set the standard for what a great country like the U.S. can be!