A Tribute to America’s 250th Birthday

     When you are born in the United States and live most of your life here, you become accustomed to the many benefits of being an American. It’s only when you experience America through the eyes of foreigners that you can truly appreciate our nation.

      I was blessed, in my military and industry career, to live overseas and to travel extensively in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, sometimes with my wife, Ona, accompanying me. We were always treated with such kindness wherever we traveled, and we both developed a special affection for the international community.  After I retired, we found an opportunity to return that kindness by hosting foreign delegates in our Alabama home under the State Department’s International Visitors Program.

      Over a decade. we hosted dozens of delegates, typically two at a time, from all parts of the world, representing many different nations, occupations, and religions, as well as exchange students from Central America.  While “Mrs. Ona” treated them to southern meals and comfortable beds, I provided transportation and often escorted them to meet with local officials, educators, and businessmen. Experiencing and hearing their observations about our country taught Ona and me to appreciate things we had taken for granted. It was an eye-opening experience for us as we saw our nation in a new light for the first time. 

      On one occasion, we hosted a University STEM professor from Moscow and a high school STEM teacher from St Petersburg. We took advantage of their well-spoken English and invited several local high school STEM teachers to join us for supper. Our Russian visitors were amazed to learn that every child in the United States—regardless of family wealth or status—can attend school for free. They were even more baffled to learn about the diversity in our local Alabama schools, where more than twenty languages, other than English, were spoken. America is truly the land of equality.

     Two of our favorite visitors were attorneys from Kosovo whose goal was to understand how disagreements between citizens are handled at the local level.  In addition to attending small claims court, they met with local judges to discuss procedures and best practices.  Their biggest surprise was attending a city council meeting where they listened to average citizens register complaints and discuss solutions directly with the mayor and city council. In their region of the world, such open and informal communications between the citizenry and elected officials were unthinkable. America is the land of “We the People”.    

    

     One of my most challenging times as a host came when I escorted five “Imams” who were religious leaders of the Sunni Muslim faith. They were visiting under a State Department program to improve interfaith dialogue. We met with the chaplain of one of our largest hospitals, who, I discovered upon arrival, was a female. My experience conducting business in male-dominated, Muslim countries made me anxious about how our visit might go. The chaplain explained that she was a Christian but served patients and staff of all faiths at the hospital, including Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist. When asked by one of the Imams how she cared for patients of the Islamic faith she replied, “When asked, I provide them with a Koran and pray by their bedside or with their family. I strive to respect their faith and be impartial in meeting the religious needs of all our patients.” I was surprised at how pleased the Imams were with her response and wondered how they might apply what they had learned when they returned to their own country. Freedom of religion is a cornerstone of the American experience. 

     Many of the delegates Ona and I hosted were young professionals from Eastern Europe visiting to learn how to start and grow a business. Their homeland, formerly part of the Soviet Union, had little history of free enterprise, and these young, inexperienced entrepreneurs had few resources and mentors to help them get started.  During their visit, they learned what I had already experienced in growing a business in Alabama. There is a unique culture of entrepreneurship in our nation, supported by a partnership between local and federal government, the financial community, and our educational institutions. The support our businesses receive is unmatched anywhere in the world. Since its founding, America has been a land of opportunity.  

      America is not perfect. We are a large, diverse nation of more than 340 million people, of many different religious, economic, and political persuasions. Nevertheless, we remain united in our love of the country and our goal to make life better for future generations.