DeMolay and Patriotism

One of the cardinal principles that we teach in DeMolay is love of country, which can be summed up into one word that was deemed a cardinal virtue of DeMolay; patriotism. The love and respect we are taught to have for our country goes beyond the field of battle, which several members of DeMolay have been proud to be part of for many years. That same love of country goes deeper into the thoughts of our belief's and our actions in our daily lives.

Yesterday was a day that still stands the test of time as a historical day. September 11th, 2001, the day the World Trade Centers in New York and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, were demolished by terroristic attacks on our nation, will always be remembered as a turning point in American History. Just like the question "Where were you when President Kennedy was assassinated?," we will always think to ourselves "What were we doing on 9/11/01?" To answer that question, I was a sophomore in High School. We were sent to home room right before being sent home for the day. In my home room, which was also the choir room, classmates were standing on chairs to watch the TV screen. I knew something bad was happening, but I couldn't tell what it was since I could not see the screen for myself. They sent us home, and I was yelled at by my mother for stopping for pizza. Needless to say, when I watched the events on TV, I could understand why. I knew that this moment would be a day that we would never forgot, and 15 years later, that theory still stands.

Our nation has had a lot of "ups" and "downs" over the years. Some would even say that we are in some of those "downs" now. The thing I will leave you with is for us to remember all that we have overcome in our nations history. Every problem that we have been faced with as a nation, has come with a solution. September 11th, 2001 was a devastating time in our nations history that some would think we would not come back from, but we did.

Until next time - "Dad" Joe Pullin