God Bless America

God Bless America
Land that I love
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with the light from above.

From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam.
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.

What a simple, yet powerful song. It was written by Irving Berlin and introduced on Armistice Day, 1939. It became so popular that it threatened to replace "The Star Spangled Banner" as our national anthem.

That was certainly not the only song that Irving Berlin wrote. In his lifetime, he wrote over 900 songs and I know that you would recognize many of them if I began listing them here. "White Christmas" is probably one of his most famous songs and a personal favorite of mine.

You know what is really amazing? Irving Berlin was an immigrant to this country. He was born in Russia, on May 11, 1888; one of eight children to Leah and Moses Baline. Israel Baline (his birth name), and his family moved to New York in 1893 to escape the pograms in Russia. When he was only eight years old, he worked to help support his siblings and his mother because his father had died. I'm sure life was hard for the Balines, but whatever they faced here in America must have been better than what they would have faced in Russia.

I believe that Irving Berlin loved his adopted country and it showed in his music and the way he supported various charities throughout his life. Read more about him here: www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org.

There are many privileged, well-to-do people who were born and bred in this country and who have every advantage in life that could be imagined yet they don't have even a tiny fraction of the love for this country andthe sense of patriotism that an immigrant, an American, like Irving Berlin possessed. See, the people like Israel Baline/Irving Berlin, knew that honesty and hard work are what gets you through life and what makes a country great.

There are millions just like Irving Berlin. They came from England, Ireland, Scotland, Holland, Germany, Japan, China, and many other countries. They knew when they got here they were going to have to work hard and it was going to be tough. They came anyway. There was something here in this country that drew them. It's still here and it is still drawing people, every day.

There are people who don't understand what we've got. Maybe, just maybe...they fear it because they don't understand it and because it is so different. Those people are seeking with all their might to change and basically destroy who and what we are.

Three years ago today, they attacked this nation on our own soil by flying airplanes into the World Trade Center Towers, the Pentagon, and into a field in Pennsylvania. Thousands of innocent men, women, and children died that day. We are still feeling the effects of those attacks today. But we are not beaten, not by a long shot.

As long as there are people all over this country who are willing to take a stand and say "No More. This is my country and you will not destroy it.", then this country will continue.

That white-collar worker in his Armani suit who was forced to run down a street that day while a huge cloud of glass, metal, and other debris choked and blinded him...he's not backing down.

That daycare worker who had to hold crying, terrified children and comfort them that day because Mommy and Daddy weren't coming back...she's not backing down.

That blue-collar, hourly wage, factory worker wearing a greasy uniform who stood in front of a little tv in his supervisor's office that day, with tears of rage running down his face...he's not backing down.

Those men and women in uniform right now who are putting their lives on the line in some foreign country and in this country...they aren't backing down.

We will not back down. We will not give up. This country is the greatest country in the world and we will not let it be destroyed, from without or from within.

God Bless America.