True American Pride - Real Things to Celebrate About This Nation (#11)

 A little history...and a little more Americana...

#20: JUNE 20:  AMERICANS NEVER QUIT

“Americans Never Quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We Make History." ~ John McCain

The Battle at the Alamo - March 1836

Day 20 of True American Pride month for me. Today I remember and honor a quality that can be seen time and again throughout the history of this country; displayed in both heroic and small ways. Perserverance. As the late Senator McCain said above (and was an epitome of himself during his time as a Vietnam War POW), Americans never quit. No matter the odds, no matter how great the challenge or how long it takes, Americans have worked to perservere. The very founding of this country 247 years ago - 13 individual colonies daring to fight for independence against the greatest power in the world at the time - established this precedent and principle in our national ethos.

Elizabeth Eckford - 1st Day of School Little Rock AR Sept 1957

Below are just a few of the historical examples that are some of my favorites. The 189 Texans at the Alamo in 1836; Jackie Robinson during the 1947 major league baseball season; Elizabeth Eckford (one of the "Little Rock Nine") all alone on that September morning in 1957; and Todd Beamer leading the charge on Flight 91 on 9/11.

Jackie Robinson - April 1947

Americans...especially every day citizens...are the true leaders of this country...because they will never quit on this country. Or what's true. God Bless America and those who never quit on her.

Todd Beamer's last words - September 11 2001

#21: JUNE 21: AMERICANA - THE HAMBURGER

"I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today" (J. Wellington Wimpy, "Popeye the Sailor Man")

Catching up on my celebration of True American Pride after missing yesterday. Here's entry #21: The All-American Hamburger. The quintessential American easy to eat (depending on how high you pile it!) meal. The staple of American summer cuisine and cookouts for over a century. Big, meaty, extravagant at times - perfect fit for the American ethos. And as far as I'm concerned - in the travels I've made abroad - no other country does burgers (or sandwiches for that matter) as well as is done in the USofA.

The names we give American burgers are also a hoot. Consider this random sampling: Big Mac, Whopper, The Jucy Lucy, In-N-Out Animal Style, Doo-Whop, Heat Wave, Caddy Melt (last 3 from a local drive-in in GP, "Jimmy's Drive-In"). And of course...The Quadruple ByPass Burger (sold at The Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas NV): 9,982 calories of tasty goodness consisting of four half-pound beef patties, twenty strips of bacon, eight slices of American cheese, a whole tomato and half an onion served in a bun coated with lard.

Getting full just writing that! But cheers to the American burger.