PATRIOTISM AN IMPORTANCE FACTOR FOR THE NEXT PRESIDENT.

Sen. John McCain supporters at 2008 Republican national convention giving his acceptence speech.

January 1, 2008

By Becky Mangan, 12

After hearing John McCain speak at the Republican National Convention, it made me think about my grandpa's picture on top of our piano. In the photograph he is wearing a uniform, and I can see a resemblance to Sen. McCain.

Although the majority of Americans are most concerned with which candidate is most capable to lead the country, I am also concerned about each candidate's patriotism, or love for this country. Just like my motivation to do chores every day is because I love my mother and want her to be happy, the president of the United States should love his country and put its needs ahead of his own.

My grandpa was a patriot. He served in the U.S. Air Force for 18 years. Although I never met him, my father has told me about his service to our country and how the family moved around a lot because my grandfather was stationed in several places, including Panama and Germany after World War II.

I know there are other ways to be patriotic. For some Americans, it is wearing a flag on their lapel or displaying the U.S. flag on their front porch. For others, it's winning a gold medal in the Olympics or being involved in politics or championing issues important to your community.

For several months now, I've been wondering about each candidate's patriotism. Sen. Barack Obama has displayed his concern for other Americans by working as a community organizer and senator, devoting his energies to trying to solve some of our nation's problems.

McCain has done that, but he's sacrificed much more. Like my grandfather, he served in the armed forces. Of the 22 years he served, he spent five years captivity in Vietnam, often being tortured. At one point the beatings were so bad that his hair turned white.

On the concluding night of the RNC, the delegate repeatedly shouted: "John McCain put his country first!" For me, there was no doubt about his patriotism after his speech that night:

"I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's. I loved it for its decency; for its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again. I wasn't my own man anymore. I was my country's."

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