Mr. and Mrs. Khan, both Pakistani Muslim immigrants - stood side by side at the podium at the Democratic Convention last week. As with many immigrants, the Khans came to America empty handed, but Mr. Khan said they were 鈥渂lessed to raise three sons in a nation where they were free to be themselves and follow their dreams.鈥� Khan said their son Humayun dreamed of becoming a military lawyer, but his dreams were cut short when he was killed 12 years ago in Iraq. He was awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart posthumously for saving fellow soldiers鈥� lives.
The speech reminded me of a trip I took with my two children to Washington DC last April. We toured the Air and Space Museum and the National Zoo. We took an elevator ride to the top of the Washington Monument.
On the last morning, after seeing the Lincoln Memorial, we walked to the nearby Vietnam Veterans Memorial 鈥� that long black granite wall filled with more than 58,000 names of American men and women who died for their country. We saw a school group visiting, people looking for specific names, and makeshift memorials placed on the ground.
I told my kids that while we sometimes joke and play games about wars, in reality they鈥檙e serious, and we should never enter them lightly. In addition to all the names of the dead etched in the cold dark stone, countless others lived but lost arms and legs. Entire families and communities suffered.
I told them their grandfather 鈥� my father - served in the Vietnam War and received a Bronze Star. I said it鈥檚 OK to argue against wars 鈥� that I鈥檝e done it many times. Using our voices to object to a war is one of the most important freedoms we have. It can be an act of great patriotism.
But the people who defend our freedoms deserve our respect and thanks. When their grandfather returned home after his service, he was scorned by some, and that should never be tolerated.
Last week, Mr. Khan reminded us that Arlington National Cemetery is filled with the graves of men and women who died defending America. There, he said 鈥淵ou will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities.鈥� He held up a copy of the US Constitution and challenged anyone suggesting that people of Muslim faith or other heritages are not true Americans to read it.
It was one of the most moving expressions of patriotism that I鈥檝e ever had the privilege to witness.
