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Why patriotism matters

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
  • Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  The sun glistened off of Sunday Lake in my hometown of Wakefield, Mich., as I sat there in my 30-year-old, 14-foot aluminum boat and watched my 12-year-old granddaughter Lyla Gale carefully cast a fishing line next to a weed bed.

"How's my casting Grampa?" Lyla asked me.

"Perfect," I replied, thinking how amazing it was to be where I was. "Your dad has taught you well."

That lazy afternoon at the lake this past July came just a few weeks after I returned from more than six months of being deployed to Southwest Asia. That deployment, my seventh, seemed longer than most but I knew my support was not only required, but needed, and I was more than happy to do what was asked of me.

Going to my hometown right after a deployment is also pretty normal for me. Seeing the sights and visiting with family and friends rejuvenates the patriot in me and reminds me that I come from someplace pretty special. It demonstrates to me why patriotism matters in everything I do.

Why this focus on patriotism? As a military member, it's an easy answer for me. I joined the military partly because I believed it was part of my patriotic duty as an American to serve my country in some capacity. For me, it meant joining the Air Force.

Over the course of an 18-and-a-half-year military career, I still feel the same way. I serve because I want to be a patriot and I believe it's the right thing to do. For the latter half of my career, that need to serve and be patriotic has been even more important.

Nine years ago, in September 2001, I was a staff sergeant serving at Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D. At the time I was contemplating getting out of the military and pursuing other things. However, when the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, took place, I knew I had to draw back to my patriotic duty and continue to serve.

Since September 2001, I've been to Afghanistan, Iraq and just about every country U.S. service members deploy to in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. I've worked as a combat skills instructor with some of our best and brightest Airmen at the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., helping Airmen prepare to deploy just as I have done. I did all this because my patriotism for my country burns in me like an eternal flame.

Whether I've been deployed, or back at home station, I've always tried to pass on any experience I have to younger troops to help them be better at what they do. I can only hope that I've demonstrated to them that patriotism matters in everything we do as military members.

I also believe patriotism is important to every American. Take my immediate family members for example. My wife, children and grandchildren don't have to support my career as much as they do, but they do it without question. They've moved with me everywhere I went, and, have held up the home front on every deployment I've been on. There's a patriot in each one of them too.

Also look at my hometown. I grew up in a city of less than 2,000 people in rural Michigan. They are far from the fast-paced life of many American cities, yet they are as ardent a group of American patriots that you will find anywhere. For my family, friends and my entire hometown - patriotism matters.

On Sept. 11, 2010, we will observe Patriot Day. It's a day we should not only reflect on what took place on Sept. 11, 2001, but also remember why patriotism matters to each one of us. I encourage you to look around you and inside you and remember for yourself why patriotism matters.