We asked people to participate in Real American Stories and were astonished by the responses. From people we stopped on the sidewalk to household names eager to tell their uniquely American stories, we invite you to watch selections that moved us.
Through hard work and perseverance, Mila Apostol created the little store that could.
A refugee survivor, Derreck Kayongo is saving the world, one bar of soap at a time.
A harrowing escape from Iran, a fight for freedom, and the little bakery that could.
A bi-lateral amputee, Rachel leads her teammates with a truly inspiring attitude.
Pushing the limits of pickling by bringing lots of taste to the traditional mason jar.
Aaron Dworkin brings classical music to the inner city, and opens up a world of possibilities.
Anne Mahlum starts a running program that helps homeless men reclaim their lives.
A DC inner city school teaches rugby to a school for the deaf and the results are loud and clear.
A DC inner city school teaches rugby to a school for the deaf and the results are loud and clear.
Some call air guitar part perf. art, pro wrestling and rock’n’roll. Whatever it is, it sure is fun.
An Iraq War veteran, James talks about surviving a suicide attack and serving our country.
She talks about coming over from Italy as a child and the chances America has given her.
She’s following in grandfather’s footsteps, paying it forward, and living up to her good name.
Her parents left Albania so she could grow up with the freedom to live out her “American Dream.”
A 1st grade teacher talks about teaching the Pledge of Allegiance to her students.
The father of entertainer Beyonce, he talks of the importance of reaching for your dreams.
She raised nine children and talks about overcoming adversity and following your dreams.
As devoted parents, they provided a safe and loving environment for over 40 foster babies.
She shares her ancestors’ sacrifices and struggles for the freedoms we enjoy in America.
Inspired by wounded soldiers, he’s in med school training to become a doctor in the U.S. Army.
Julie Smith & Joyce Hogan have served our nation through their husbands’ military service.
They adpoted two children from Russia and share how the experience changed their lives.
Vietnam Vet who talks about how service changed his life and his feeling for this country.
He compares football to unity and talks about the importance of America coming together.
She’s a 3rd generation American who talks of fulfilling the dreams of our founding fathers.
A Vietnam Vet, Anthony talks about surviving a vicious attack, and the costs of freedom.
The couple talks about raising their kids and the freedoms we cherish in this country.
A teacher who credits her ancestors for giving us the freedoms we share in this country.
A Cuban American who talks about how her father risked his life to bring his family here.
Married for 52 years, they talk about growing up and raising a family in a small town.
He came from India to become an engineer and is currently applying for U.S. citizenship.
The award winning country music group talks about performing for the troops in Iraq.
Like Mrs. Rasumssen, I too live in a rural community, a small town of only 4,000 people. It was not always so. We lived in a large city ( by Nevada’s standards ) where The Pledge was not taught to the students for fear of insulting and alienating the 90% of the school that did not speak English natively. At this school, only 3 students out of an average class of 25 students spoke English natively. The Pledge was not taught to students at this school until the 4th grade, only because it was a required element for US. History.
Most of the music taught at this school was of other languages, other cultures. The books they read were not written by American authors, but focused only on other cultures, and other alternative family situations. For the longest time My Eldest child thought our family was strange, because she had a Mother and Father, and not a Father and a Father, or a Mother and a Mother or even only a Mom or only a Dad. She was teased because she had a family at home, A Mother and Father who not only lived together, but they were married, and had never even been divorced! The ridicule continued when she ( a Girl Scout since Kindergarten) would wear anything red, white and blue or anything that was Girl Scout related.
We moved, bringing our little family to a home in rural Nevada and it was the best move we’ve ever made. My Kindergartener can recite not only The Pledge, but all 50 states in alphabetical order, she can sing “The Star Spangled Banner”, “Grand old Flag”, “This land is your land” as well as “My country ’tis of thee” and “America the beautiful”. At Christmas Time, she had a Nativity scene in her class room, as well as a “Christmas tree” Not a “holiday tree”
The politics of a small community, a small county and a close knit school is beyond compare. The politics and the bantering for votes, catering to the sensitivities of those who are not here legally has injured our schools, our government and our way of life. Being in a rural area changes all of that. The rurals have the freedom to do what is right, not what is popular in the opinion polls on that given day.
It’s sad that we have lost so much, when progress is said that we have mastered leaps and bounds. We have so many “civil rights” advancements, but our children are afraid of being ridiculed for exhibiting patriotism.
I agree with everything that was posted in this article, I’m a loyal reader so please keep updating so frequently.
Thank You, this means so much Im glad you still have faith!
I’ve lived in Europe before and though I loved it, there is no place like home. LOL. I guess every person in many countries believe that but I think specifically USA is a wonderful place to live the dream of self preservation and growth.
I remember saying the pledge of Alligance as a child but I never said the words Under God because I grew up Agnostic. LOL. My son is Catholic and Mexican. I adopted him years ago and he says Under God and believes he’s blessed to be in such a country that affords him the choices he has. So, may we all be free and may we all appreciate our difference, as this republic is great indeed.
Jillyn,
Thank you for teaching our future leaders one of the most important things they can learn about our country. The pledge of allegiance says it all and it is very touching indeed. I am a first generation Cuban American my mother was pregnant with me as she fled communism and the communists who tried to kill her for believing in democracy and human rights. These are frightening times in which we live. In my family we actually tear up when we say the Pledge and wee shout God Bless America after the National Anthem. God Bless You All on this Fourth of July…. Peace Out.
I remember as a child in grade school, each day one of us (the students) would stand and lead the class in the Pledge of Allegience and then, an anthem. I am saddened that it seems as if our nation is forgetting it. But may we all on 7/4/09, pledge our allegience to our flag, for these United States, and to our republic for which it stands, one nation UNDER GOD remember who all died past & present for liberty, and justice, FOR ALL!
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
I remember learning the Pledge of Allegiance and remember how good it made me fell and how good I still feel whenever I recite it…… God Bless you for helping your students learn to be proud of our country. I would hope that every school in America is doing the same for their students.
I grew up and went to college in Saint Louis, Missouri. Via my participation in R.O.T.C., I was commissioned in 1961 and embarked on a 20-year Air Force career. I remember the day I was commissioned and swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of these United States. In the interest of full disclosure I do not remember fully appreciating what I was promising at the age of not quite 21.
I met my future wife during my 2nd tour of duty at K.I. Sawyer AFB (1962) outside of Marquette, Michigan (the Upper Peninsula).
In 1967, I was in a “cushy” science/computer job at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. With the outbreak of the war in Vietnam, I just knew that I had to volunteer to go defend my country .. I felt driven .. it was no impulse, I assure you. I was angry at those that chose to flee America to escape the draft; and I chose to do the opposite by serving.
During the last duty assignment in 1979, I suffered a cerebral hemorrhage from which the doctors said I would never live, or if I lived, from which I would never fully recover. By the grace of Almighty God, I lived and fully recovered .. it was a true first-class miracle in every sense of the word.
I cannot explain it .. but I feel driven now, driven out of love of our country, to somehow be a voice, be a force, be something good to counter what I see going on in Washington, D.C.
Again, in the interest of full disclosure, I am certain that I definitely do not know what Our Blessed Lord wants this almost-69-year-old man to do, I really don’t. Ole Saint Paul had it easy .. he was “knocked off his white horse” and told point-blank by the Real Boss what to do. But I do not .. so the best I can do is to just listen and see if I detect God’s Whisper “John, I want you to do this .. ..”
Thanks for listening everyone.
John Love
Jillynn, Thank you so much for sharing this with us at this dangerous time, but more than that–thank you for doing what you’re doing. It has concerned me so much that our children were forgetting, and you are so important!! Keep up the illustrating their wonderful country and history to them. They are the hope of our world. Ruth
May God continue to bless America, and may God bless you.