Be courageous! Whatever setbacks America has encountered, it has always emerged as a stronger and more prosperous nation... Be brave as your fathers before you. Have faith and go forward!  -Thomas Edison.

When his father died in 1986, my dad inherited the Edison phonograph. Among the dozens of wax cylinders it played, “Stars and Stripes Forever” not only maintained the best sound quality but hit the right note of nationalism that dad valued and, more importantly, shared.

He loved treating visitors to a listen. Conversation would pause as Sousa’s familiar cadence picked up, friendly chatter stopping not so much out of courtesy but practicality; without a volume adjustment, the Edison was easily heard halfway down the block if windows were open. I suspect Dad hoped the neighbors were listening, too.

When grandchildren stopped by as toddlers, Dad handed out mini-American flags and taught them to march to the beat, planting seeds of American pride. Grandma Maloney even joined in and, as grandkids became parents, four generations ended up marching to Sousa around the Ping-Pong table with Grandpa, a corny but patriotic tradition etched as firmly into our family as grooves in the wax itself. 

He loved this country and would have died for it, had that been his calling. Instead, when he asked to be sent from Camp Pendleton to Korea, his superior scoffed at his naive Midwestern ambition. “Maloney, go back to your post.” That “post” would be to use what he gleaned as a Depression-era motherless kid to serve a 62-year marriage, raise seven kids and build a blue-collar business that, with an American flag adorning the entrance, enriched the neighborhood. 

It was what our Founding Fathers designed: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

Outward deference to American ideals isn’t practiced exclusively by men, of course, but what is unique is the impression left by their patriotic actions; the sight of masculine gratitude for a country providing freedom they never had to earn can inspire pride in even an apathetic witness.

Symptoms suggest citizens’ disdain for America is on the rise. To address them, we need to see those displays more often.

According to a recent poll conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute, fewer Americans feel proud of our country. The vitals: just 51% reporting they are “extremely” or “very proud” of being American. In 2013, 82% felt that way. 

As national pride weakens, it’s critical to acknowledge our Founding Fathers, and the actions of courageous men who remind us of their great gift, on this Father’s Day. Below, I share a few men’s reflections on patriotism.

Coleman Hughes -- Writer, The Free Press

If we compare America to an imagined utopia, then it is a racist, exploitative hellscape. But if we compare it to the world as it actually is, America is one of the most progressive cultures on Earth... People vote with their feet—and their choices about where to live capture their true priorities. Around the world, the groups of people most valued by liberals and progressives—people of color, the poor, residents of the “global South”—most of all want to live here because they believe that our society, more than any other in the world, is the most compatible with their individual flourishing. According to the world’s revealed preferences—not simply according to our own self-estimation—we are still the best country.

(Note: Mr. Hughes is pro-abortion.)

Dan Blake -- Treasurer, Massachusetts Citizens for Life

I have no great line from my father about America. Instead, I keep in my mind an image of him in silence. My dad was a career officer in the Air Force and a veteran combat pilot of WWII. He was a quiet man with a gentle, easy smile, and his few words often hid a playful, even jesting humor which you could miss if you did not see the twinkle in his eye. But whenever the Star Spangled Banner would play (and it would play, often living on Air Force bases), he would stand at rigid attention, with salute held firmly at his brow. His back would be stiff and his jaw set tight. While the tune played nothing was allowed to intrude, to distract from expressing honor to our Flag, to our country and to those who fought to defend her. He treated devotion to country with a similar solemnity and earnestness as devotion to God. By his silence, he taught, I think, more about love of country than could many words. 

Sean Corcoran, J.D. -- CEO, Men for Life

America is the greatest country in the world. Even people who disagree with that statement wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. But the patriotism that was instilled in America for hundreds of years is under attack. And that attack starts in the schools - with our children. As fathers, it is our responsibility to not only protect everything good in our country, but to instill true patriotism and love for America in our children. Like all things grounded in truth, we cannot abdicate this responsibility. What we start in our homes will extend into our communities and into our nation. Not just for us or our own children, but for the future of this country as a whole. We must educate our children as to why America is so great and then lead by example for our families and communities in ensuring that sense of pride never fades away.  

Paul DeBeasi -- Director, APRScience; Chairman-Elect, Massachusetts Citizens for Life

When I was growing up, my dad put a brass American Eagle on the wall in the family room, flanked by two American flags. It was above a picture of John F Kennedy. I remembered being proud to be an American.

George Washington -- President of the United States; Author, “Prayer for America”

I now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have the United States in his holy protection, that he would incline the hearts of the Citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to Government, to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for their fellow citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the Field, and finally, that he would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all, to do Justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that Charity, humility and pacific temper of mind, which were the Characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy Nation.  Amen

I passed a Scotsman the other day, one of the thousands in town for the World Cup. Like most, he walked with a confident swagger, kilt swinging with his gait. On his head, he wore a cowboy hat. The ensemble did not look as odd as it sounds. He’d managed to integrate his identity with America’s and made it work because he carried a genuine fondness for both. It was that simple. 

Blending histories, visions and viewpoints is what Americans, literally by design, should do. It’s what our Founding Fathers hoped for and what far too many servicemembers have died for. What a privilege that writers, like Mr. Hughes, enjoy freedom of the press and for you and me to have the right to tell him that abortion prevents the “individual flourishing” he cites. Regardless of our country’s many problems, how wonderful that we can either protest failures of or work to bring out the best in this administration or the next, our current governor’s policies or those of her successor. 

Let’s not lose the will to acknowledge our pride in being American. As Hughes also wrote, “It seems to me that the ability to hoist an American flag without embarrassment ought to be the easiest way to find that common ground. And if we do not find some common ground, we are headed down a dangerous road indeed.”

Men, if you march forward carrying love of country in faith, we will follow your lead. The health of our nation depends on it.

P.S. Watch a Father’s Day Virtual Speaker Series episode featuring the highly inspiring Sean Corcoran.