This story starts on Five Mile Road. I had just turned left out of the subdivision I live in and was thinking about a family member who was struggling with a difficult challenge. Suddenly, a siren pierced my thoughts, and I instantly responded. After quickly looking in my rear-view mirror, I then turned my head, looked over my shoulder and moved my car next to the curb.
An ambulance was moving rapidly down the hill from the intersection of Victory and Five Mile. In response—the traffic parted, wave-like, and pulled to the side. Interesting to me was the instinctive movement to clear a path and facilitate the rescue effort. No matter if, minutes before, someone was driving a bit aggressively because he or she was late; the siren was a signal that someone needed help. So the vehicles moved.
As the ambulance screamed past me and I prepared to reenter the flow of traffic, I pondered what I had witnessed. A wave of awareness passed over me in a defining moment. In America, life matters. Every ONE matters—every person, every individual. This ideal seems simplistic, but in its simplicity is a beautiful truth.
The respect for life and the value of the individual is what makes America great. This ideal is woven into the fabric of American life—every thread a representation of individual worth and contribution. There are threads radiating selflessness, graced by goodness, and colored by courage, while other threads are dyed red from the greatest sacrifice of all—one life given for another. These examples are numerous and varied just as each American is uniquely gifted with talents that bless the individual and benefit the whole.
I witnessed this recently when I was at my sister’s home for a small family Fourth of July gathering. As the evening shadows deepened to darkness, the air exploded with aerial fireworks. Mortars thudded and the night sky sizzled.
Our family moved from the backyard into the front to watch the sky light up from the neighboring cul-de-sacs. Unfortunately, the neighbors across the street lit an aerial in their backyard that immediately fell over, shot across the yard, and plowed into evergreen trees filled with deadfall. Nothing happened for several seconds, and then suddenly the trees burst into flames. Long, hot, fiery fingers reached up and out as the flames split the night sky.
The intense heat was astonishingly impressive—the roar terrifying. Within seconds, my brother-in-law, Jeff, was phoning 911. Then he went through a gate in their fence, crossed the yard, and assisted the homeowners, as they were horrified and incapable of action. Getting the dog out of the house, Jeff grabbed the hose and started spraying the inferno, the grass, and their shed. As I saw him silhouetted against the orange glare, hose in hand, alone in the yard, I felt the impression, “He’s a hero.”
Within moments, sirens cut through the air. Several firetrucks sped up the road and the loosely gathered group of neighbors gratefully parted to let them have needed access. As the firefighters began hosing the blaze, a firefighter spoke to Jeff, thinking that he was the homeowner. “I’m just a neighbor,” Jeff said. Smiling amidst the smoke and noise, the firefighter replied, “Thanks, bro!”
Across the United States of America, there are countless stories of neighbors and strangers running to the rescue despite the possibility of personal harm. Some services are simple. The price is not too high and the reward for being in the right place at the right time is sweet. Years ago, my father felt impressed to walk a certain way to his university class; because he listened, he was in the right place to save a child from drowning in a canal.
Other efforts exact the ultimate sacrifice. In my mind, I see images of firefighters running into the Twin Towers as injured individuals struggled to escape. Service men and women protect civilians at home and abroad—despite possible disfigurement and death. Healthcare professionals care for COVID-19 patients, sitting with them at the end because their loved ones are unable to do so. Police officers are injured or killed while on duty. Hotshot crews fight unrelenting and often unpredictable wildfires and forest fires. Search and Rescue teams, as well as the Coast Guard, rescue the lost and injured—frequently in perilous circumstances.
Americans respect life and value the individual—each person—every ONE. This ideal is why America is great and will continue to be why America is “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” This is why I love America.