TEXAS HOT COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Editor/Publisher: Leon Beck     June 2007 issue   

COUNTRY SPIRIT!  AMERICAN SPIRIT!

What does it mean to be an American?

What does America mean to You?

Read what Charlie Daniels, George Jones, Clint Black, Neal McCoy, The Bellamy Brothers, Barry McGuire, Collin Raye, B.B. Watson and Bobby Bare have to say:

What does it mean to be an American?

“America is an eclectic society that my ancestors have been building for the last 200 years. Every race and creed, every nationality and color, have come together from all parts of the world. Some came in chains, some came in bond, some came thinking themselves poor, and others came thinking themselves rich. Together, through pain, struggle and bloodshed a nation has been birthed. A nation like no other that has come before. We have been given an opportunity here to show the world a unity and a brotherhood of mankind that could change the course of human history. If we let this opportunity, that has been purchased by the blood of the millions of men and women who came before us, if we let this opportunity slip away, then we don’t deserve the gift we’ve been given and we don’t deserve to be called Americans.”

What does America mean to Barry McGuire?

“I’ve heard that much of the world hates America, and yet millions of individual citizens from those same nations that say they hate us so much and want to destroy us, put their lives at risk, and many of them do actually die trying to smuggle themselves and their families into this land of the Free.

America doesn’t just stand for freedom. America is Freedom! The people of this nation can choose of their own free will to do or be whatever it is they think will bring them happiness. A man or woman living in the streets can wake up one morning and say, ”To Hell with this, I’m better than this!” And starting right there, from the lowest rung on society’s ladder, they can climb to whatever level they wish to gain. Limited only by their own dreams and determination to reach that goal, the adventure has no boundaries. They can reach for the stars if they want to. They may only achieve the moon, but opportunity potentials are to be found waiting around every corner.

Last week my gardener, a man who mows lawns for a living, stood with a beaming smiling face and told me he had just bought a new home for himself and his family. Some folks do reach for the stars and some folks actually walk on the moon, then there are those who just work hard and provide a home for themselves and their families. To me that’s what America is all about.”

Clint Black

“It means you are very lucky.  And, ‘to those, whom much is given, much is expected.”  America means hope.  A country which can continually strive to correct its mistakes, lessen its shortcomings and keep a hand outstretched ready to help those in need.  Hope mankind may be enlightened.  May be compassionate”

Charlie Daniels

“It means that I get up free every morning, free to pursue anything I want to in a legal way I want to.  I can worship my God and my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in my own way and in my own time. America is the culmination of the dream of free men everywhere, the land of opportunity, the land of promise, the home of the brave and the land of the free.”

George Jones

“It means you have the freedom to speak your mind, worship where you choose, get an education, work in your chosen field, have access to great health care…I could go on and on.  We are just so blessed in America.  It is a feeling of pride and love for this country that I cannot put into words.  When I hear the National Anthem, or when jets fly over a sporting event, or I see soldiers going off to serve our country, it gives me an overwhelming feeling of pride in America.”

Bobby Bare

“America is the greatest country in the world because it gives all people an opportunity.  If they really want to do something, they can.  I’m a perfect example, and all my friends are perfect examples.  If there’s something you really want to do in America, then you have the freedom to go do it.  If you make the right decisions and figure out where the power source is, and network enough, you can do it.”

Neal McCoy

“ Growing up in a family where my mom is not from America, we were taught to appreciate the freedoms we have here.  My mom being Filipino and raised there told us to never take anything we have for granted- and that includes our freedom- because the rest of the world isn’t so lucky.  So being an American makes me not only extremely proud, but also makes me very appreciative that I live in the greatest country in the world.”

The Bellamy Brothers

“It means we are free as long as we are willing to pay the high cost of freedom.  America means everything to me.” David

“It means accepting the same responsibilities our forefathers had and preserving our rights and freedom and passing those same responsibilities on to our children.  America means my home of strength, honor, truth and justice.” Howard

The Statler Brothers

“America has been like a mother to us.  It has afforded us the opportunity to do the things we love with our lives; to think and speak as we wish; and to leave a legacy of freedom to our children.  It’s a shame only one day of the year is set aside to recognize all the good things there are about America.  WE LOVE HER!” Don Reid, Harold Reid, Jimmy Fortune, Phil Balsley

B.B.Watson

“To be an American is the greatest gift one could ever receive-a gift that grows richer day by day.  As it becomes more apparent how blessed we are to live in a country where individual freedom is anyone’s right, guaranteed by the Constitution, other nations seem to become more intolerant of that right. As for me, I know for certain that nowhere else in the world could a boy with nothing more than a song in his heart achieve what I have.  The people of this great country with their generosity, kindness and great compassion have lifted me and countless others to great heights, and many times without even knowing it.  It is at this moment in my life that I would just like to offer up a loud and joy-filled, THANK YOU, for all that you’ve done for me, and especially for all that you (we) continue to do for others around the world.  Upward and onward.  Forever.

America, to me is all that is good about humanity…all that is real and eternal.  Always striving to do the right thing for everyone is a high ideal and perhaps, seemingly impossible.  Yet I am reminded of a saying from a dear friend, “The impossible just takes a little longer.”  Indeed, it does.  With so much resistance of our great nation, resistance based on fear and envy, America grows stronger in all our hearts and minds.  Sacrifice has its own reward in the fostering of hope, strength, prosperity and the greater good.  America is a prayer for me, a desire, and a time more than ever to work hard, to play hard, and to live each day with great reverence.  America, you are truly beautiful beyond words.”

Collin Raye

“To be an American is to walk through life with a blessed obligation to protect and defend this way of life that has given us SO MUCH we can’t help but take it for granted.  To be proud of what this great nation has done to inspire and share with the other nations, and diverse people of the earth.  An obligation to carry, then pass the torch of freedom, to the next generations.  That is what being an American means to me.

What America Mean to Me: “Lexington and Concord, Gettysburg, Shiloh, Anitietam, Sicily, Normandy, Bastogne, Midway, Iwo Jima, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Fallujah and Iraq.  Like it or not, that’s what this great experiment called America was founded upon, built upon and made sacred by.  The blood of the valiant.  That’s not corny or idealistic, it’s the truth.  Everything else that we’ve done or achieved, and that’s a lot, has been made possible by the unprecedented willingness to protect not only our own, but other human rights and lives.  America is a nation with a history of correcting its own flaws and evils…slavery, the horrible treatment of the Native Americans in the 19th century, etc.  Accountable when necessary, yet always moving to improve and give.  A place where every person can dream and actually have a shot at making that dream happen, with hard work, and do it all in the name of God, or not if you so choose.  That what America means to me.