The Constitution Of The United States Of America, to some it means nothing, to others it means everything. To the ones that it means nothing to, they pick certain things out of this coveted piece of paper and toss it around to try and prove their point. To the other ones, it means raising their hand and stating, "I _____, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution Of The United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniformed Code Of Military Justice. (So Help Me God)" 

 Over the course of history many brave men and women paid the ultimate price by giving their lives to protect the freedoms that we take for granted on this very day. So let's just rewind to see if we can we can remember the times when our colors ran proudly. I will only go back so far in history, with the day Pearl Harbor was attacked, on December 7th 1941. President Franklin Roosevelt delivered a speech that not only awakened a sleeping giant, but also started pumping the red, white and blue in the veins of many Americans. You can read his speech here.  

 By  looking a little more we can find another historic event that united  all, and made the patriotic colors run through our veins. I am talking  about the Inaugural Address by John F. Kennedy delivered on January 20th  1961. The day he spoke the words not only to the American people but to  the people of the world, "ask not what your country can do for you, ask  what you can do for your country."  You can find his speech here. 

 Patriotic  messages can be found all throughout history, and I could spend  countless hours posting them, but will this do any good? Generations  have changed over the course of history, i.e. The Civil War where  brothers took up arms against brothers, fathers against sons, where  brave underage boys left home to fight in wars, and when we had those  that dodged the draft during the peace love movement of the 70's.  We  can sit back and ask the important question now, has our patriotic  colors ran dry, or is it due to evolution of mankind, where we no longer  care bout our history? Our history is a part of our heritage, we cannot  change the hands of time, nor can we be held responsible for the  actions of our predecessors, but this is where it gets very interesting.  Are we that hellbent over the past that we cannot let go? Are we  thinking that someone owes us something, and forgetting that the  ultimate gift has already been given by the blood of countless brave men  and women? Most importantly are we being that stingy with ourselves  that we are leaving behind those that gave all for us to have the  freedoms that we have today? 

 Regardless  of what we expect of society, we cannot change it, we can only change  ourselves. By changing ourselves maybe we can be a beacon of light for  those in need. Can we be this beacon of light? Yes, I do believe that we  can be.