America' Greatness - Well Said

A new poll recently revealed after Donald Trump became president of the United States, only 32% of Democrats said they were “extremely proud” of America.

That was in stark contrast to the 74% of Republicans who said they were “extremely proud” of the United States.

After learning of the difference in numbers between Republicans and Democrats, Navy SEAL veteran and CEO of Bottle Breacher Eli Crane said the results were unsurprising. 

“As a veteran who chose to join our military the week after the attacks on 9/11, I can tell you that this poll saddens me and greatly disappoints me, but in no way shape or form surprises me,” he told IJR.

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Crane, who deployed to Iraq three times, said people truly do not understand how good they had it in America:

I cannot tell you how many times I called my wife during my [three] combat deployments prior to a mission to let her know that I was “working” tonight, which was our code word meaning [we're] going on a mission so please pray for our safety. These phone calls were very important to me. I knew it might be the last time I ever got a chance to speak to her, hear her voice or to tell her I loved her and to ask her to give our young daughter a hug and a kiss for me.

I signed up, I said “send me”; I wanted the hardest job where I could do the most damage to our enemies. I wanted to be a SEAL so I could make sure Americans like my family and yours regardless of race, religion or political party could sleep peacefully at night, pursue their lives and worry less about the many evil individuals overseas that hated our country, our way of life and furthermore wanted to destroy it all.

He continued:

This is why it saddens me and greatly disappoints me that so many Americans don’t “get it.” I have a very tough time understanding why they don’t respect and appreciate how hard it was to form, sustain, and grow this great country into what it is today. Having been to very war torn areas that lack freedom and opportunity and watching as many of my friends and our finest did not return, I now have so much more appreciation and love for what we have in America.

It blows my mind that the very people who are so up in arms about not letting in enough immigrants and the need for open borders for people who want so badly to taste the freedom and opportunity we have here, cannot even understand why those people want to come here so badly. If they thought for a second why people would cross deserts, and oceans with no money or possessions to have their life then maybe, just maybe they would be proud of this country that has provided them so much.

“When I think about all the people around the world who don’t get nearly enough food to eat or who have to hold Bible studies in secrecy. Or when I think about people who don’t have the freedom to choose their professions or whom they will marry, I am grateful,” Crane explained.

"When I think about people around the world who are exposed to real poverty, it makes me grateful. When I think about the people I have seen live under 'real' tyrants with real fear it makes me sad for them, but also grateful.

“Geraldine Vermaak is quoted as saying that 'Ungratefulness is worse than cancer; it eats away at your soul; blinding your heart and eyes to the beauty and miracles that are all around us each day in our lives,'” he added.

Having been deployed to countries where people were not as fortunate, Crane wanted to make sure his children understood how blessed they were to live in America, unlike some prominent people:    

This ungrateful attitude and lack of pride is the very reason so many of us were so excited when we heard so many outspoken, anti-Trump celebrities say that they would leave the U.S. if Trump was elected. We were so ready to get rid of some of the most poisonous, delusional whiners in our country who acted more like a collective cancer than a uniting anecdote for our polarized and divided country.

I am so glad that my parent’s and ancestors “got it”. They understood how lucky they were to live in a country with so much freedom, so many opportunities and so much wealth. They risked everything so that I could one day call myself an American and I’m grateful.

As a parent now with two beautiful young daughters I feel obligated to make sure they understand how lucky they are to be Americans. How fortunate they are to live in a place where we can speak openly about our faith, where food, wealth and opportunity are abundant. I also make sure that we remind them that in many places around the world young girls like them and women in general are treated as property and not as equals. I make sure they understand how wrong and horrible this [is] and yet another thing so widely taken for granted here in America. 

I do not have a crystal ball and cannot tell you where I will be in the future. I do know that every day I wake up alive as an American with the opportunity to be a better father, husband, son and leader. I also know that in Jeremiah 29:11 it says that I have a hope and a future ahead of me and I am also very grateful for this.

I know this country didn’t magically appear. I know it took many brave men and women who were willing to risk everything for freedom and for the prosperity and liberty of us all. My new favorite quote pretty much sums up this country from its founding to this recent Gallup poll and why so many are so ungrateful, “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”

“This poll is unfortunately evidence that we have a bunch of week [sic], ungrateful and misguided people in this country who do not appreciate or realize how fortunate they are. If we are not careful they will create hard times for us all,” Crane warned.