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American Perseverance

American perseverance–never underestimate it. Today, Americans, those staying at home and those on the front lines fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, can take heart by remembering our past and remembering how American determination, grit and faith brought us through.

In the days leading up to Dec. 7, 1941, America was a divided nation. Roughly 40% or more of Americans wanted to stay out of World War II. Americans felt divided by region and class, too. It was hard for poverty-stricken people of the Dust Bowl to find common ground with “yankees” in the northeast. All that changed the morning Pearl Harbor was attacked.

The United States has gone through many tragedies and hard times as a country but has always prevailed in unity. In WWII, we came together on the battlefields, in the factories and at the kitchen table to defeat the greatest evil this world had seen. On 9/11 we lost thousands of Americans in seemingly a flash. Yet, through the ruble and ruin of the Twin Towers in NYC, we rose together to challenge and defeat another evil that shook our country.

Although today’s evil has not manifested itself as an enemy we can see, again we must come together in sacrifice for our neighbor.

That sacrifice comes in many forms. Sacrificing financially, sacrificing time with loved ones and making the sacrifice of exposing yourself to this deadly virus to help others defeat it. In the end, as history has shown, the American people will come together in dark times and create a beacon of light for not only for our countrymen but also the rest of the world. Once again, we must look to our faith, our self-reliance and our American resolve to defeat this.

It is not an easy time for any of us, no matter the sacrifice. We must remember, we have faced the darkness before and have always found the light.

Never underestimate American perseverance.