Department of Alabama PATRIOTISM Keeping one’s country protected and revered!

Department of Alabama Fulfilling our promises to the men and women who served. We are dedicated to a single purpose: empowering veterans to lead high-quality lives with respect and dignity. We accomplish this by ensuring that veterans and their families can access the full range of benefits available to them; fighting for the interests of America’s injured heroes on Capitol Hill; and educating the public about the great sacrifices and needs of veterans transitioning back to civilian life. Providing free, professional assistance to veterans and their families in obtaining benefits and services earned through military service and provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and other agencies of government. Providing outreach concerning its program services to the American people generally, and to disabled veterans and their families specifically. Representing the interests of disabled veterans, their families, their widowed spouses and their orphans before Congress, the White House and the Judicial Branch, as well as state and local government. Extending DAV’s mission of hope into the communities where these veterans and their families live through a network of state-level Departments and local chapters. Providing a structure through which disabled veterans can express their compassion for their fellow veterans through a variety of volunteer programs. THE DAV MISSION STATEMENT

Department of Alabama WHAT IS PATRIOTISM - The love and loyal support of one’s country - The attachment to one’s country’s land and people - Admiration for one’s country’s customs and traditions - Pride in one’s country’s history - Devotion to one’s country’s welfare - The term suggests a feeling of unity and membership in the nation

Department of Alabama PATRIOTISM The normal attitude or felling that has existed in all ages among all peoples in many countries that have loyalty to a country and willingness to suffer even to death in defense of a country freedom and good name.

Department of Alabama WHERE IS PATRIOTISM LEARNED AND DEVELOPED  Schools help develop patriotism in order to create an appreciation for common memories, hopes, and traditions  Many students learn to love their country through the study of history the country’s good deeds and great heroes  Patriotic organizations maintain and promote symbols of patriotism and teach about honoring the National Colors  At national shrines and monuments

Department of Alabama PATRIOTIC ORGANIZATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES INCLUDE  DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS  DAUGHTER OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION  AMERICAN LEGION  VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS…

Department of Alabama WHAT DOES PATRIOTISM REQUIRE  Public service and responsibility of all citizens by  Keeping informed on public issues  Taking part in civil affairs  Contributing to the welfare of the country to the best of their ability  Many agree being patriotic involves serving one’s country, but many disagree on how they can best perform that service  Some say the nation’s elected officials speak for the country, and citizens should therefore actively support all government policies and actions  Others argue that a true patriot will speak out if convinced that the country is following an unjust or unwise course of action

Department of Alabama THE DEVELOPMENT OF PATRIOTISM  Patriotism is derived from the Greek word patris, meaning “Fatherland”  The love of the fatherland or homeland was a simple idea with no special political involvement  It was the love for the physical features of the land, including mountains, plains, and rivers

Department of Alabama PATRIOTISM HAS BECOME MORE COMPLICATED WITH TIME  Improved modes of transportation and communication  The 1800’s brought the railroads and steamships  Permitted people to move longer distances  Resulted in easier migration of people making it easy to move from a small hometown or the country of their forefathers  The telegraph kept people informed on the affairs of far away communities  Tanks and other improved and effective weapons enabled nations to gain control of greater areas of land than ever before

Department of Alabama DEVELOPMENT RAISED BASIC QUESTIONS ABOUT PATRIOTISM AND LOYALTY  Some people asked whether they should love the land of their ancestors, the land of their birth, or the country in which they presently lived  Others asked how patriotism could mean love of country when most had never seen most of the territory in the country

Department of Alabama ANSWERED BY TWO POLITICAL IDEALS: DEMOCRACY AND NATIONALISM  Democracy, as an ideal, dictates people should have the right to govern themselves  Nationalism indicates that a people who share a common language, culture, and tradition should form one nation with their own independent government  Patriotism became entangled with these new forces  Along with love of one’s own region, or country, patriotism came to mean supreme loyalty to the nation  Patriots were expected to willingly give their lives, if necessary, to defend the nation

Department of Alabama WHAT CAUSES ABUSE OF PATRIOTISM  “Patriotism,” wrote the English critic Samuel Johnson, “is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” He pointed out that patriotism, like other emotional attitudes, sometimes become exaggerated or distorted.  Persons with an excessive attachment for a certain group or country are sometimes called “Super Patriots”  An unreasoning enthusiasm for the military superiority and glory of one’s country is often called “Chauvinism” or “Jingoism”

Department of Alabama EXAMPLES OF ABUSES OF PATRIOTISM  Exaggerated or distorted forms of patriotism have existed at different times in almost all nations  In the late 1800’s the French and English believed they had a moral responsibility to establish colonies in Asia and Africa, and thus bring the benefits of the their culture to their “inferior brothers.”  In the 1900’s, the Germans under Adolf Hitler and the Italians under Benito Mussolini became convinced their nations had a patriotic mission to extend their boundaries  Demands for open and public demonstration of loyalty are often heard in times of war

Department of Alabama EXAMPLES OF ABUSE OF PATRIOTISM CONTINUED  The loyalty of Americans having German ancestry was questioned in the United States during WWII  Thousand of patriotic Japanese-Americans were placed in detention camps because of unreasonable fears that they might be loyal to Japan rather than to the United States  Since World War II, some states have required teachers and others public employees to sign special oaths pledging their loyalty to the United States

Department of Alabama SOME OF THE GREAT QUOTES OF AMERICAN PATRIOTS  Ask not what your country can do for you-ask what you can do for your country: Pres. John F. Kennedy  To be a good patriot, a man must consider his countrymen as god’s creatures, and himself as accountable for his acting towards them: Bishop Berkeley  I only regret that i have but one life to lose for my country: Nathan Hale  I am so satisfied with the cause in which i have engaged, that my only regret is, that i have not more lives than one to offer in its services: George Dudley Seymour  Patriotism varies, from a noble devotion to a moral lunacy: William Ralph Inge

Department of Alabama PATRIOTISM WITHIN THE DAV  Fulfilling our promises to the men and women who served  Educating the communities through outreach about veterans issues, and their stories  Getting veterans and DAV members involved with patriotism programs in elementary, middle and high schools  Comrades we raise our right hand and take an oath of office as elected or appointed officers  We volunteer to go to class (CSO training) to learn how to assist and help veterans to live a better lives

Department of Alabama You are great Americans who served our country, were willing to lay down your lives for its ideals and continue service while helping our brothers and sisters who served along with their families

Department of Alabama SOME RESOURCES AVAILABLE AT DAV.ORG CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO GO TO SITE

Department of Alabama God was looking at the world that He had created and felt that He needed to place beautiful colors as a finishing touch to make the world a joy for the eye and the soul. He then told the little cherubs that they would be sent to earth to give pleasure to man by blooming as bright and glorious flowers. “These will remind man that whenever there is desperation and the feeling that all is lost they have only to look around and see one of you in all your majesty.” After He had almost completed His work the tiniest, chubbiest and youngest cherub came to Him for the third time and jumped on His lap. “Father what am I supposed to be?” God looked down at him and with a smile and a pat on the cherub’s head He said, “Forget-Me- Not.” According to history, during the reign of King Edward, a young man and his lady were strolling on the margin of a lake. They discovered some flowers some distance from the lake’s inner bank. In the true spirit of chivalry, the lad swam to the off shore island and plucked the flowers for the lady. As he was returning, feeling that he could not reach the shore, he cast a last affectionate look toward the lady, threw the flowers and said, “Forget-Me-Not.” It is our “Forget-Me-Not” sale that says to everyone throughout the year “Remember Me.” When we pass the flowers to eager hands upon the street we are saying, “Remember and Forget me not, I am a Disabled American Veteran.” FROM THE DAV AUXILIARY HISTORY “LEGEND OF THE FORGET-ME-NOT”