When I left Europe, I had my own philosophical and ideological compass set. In my autobiography, “Haunted by World War II,” I discuss how I got to that conclusion.
The American flag to me is a very true symbol of freedom. I will not forget my sight of the flag when my brother and I reached the American compound in West Berlin in 1955. After the nightmares of being a refugee of the war and then living under the Soviet flag in communist East Germany, I finally saw a sign of freedom. I was greeted and treated with respect and given a lot of hope for a better future.
I started to follow that symbol from then on, until I settled in Chicago in 1960. When I look at the flag, my heart beats just a bit faster.
I also learned what America had done for human freedom, sacrificing hundreds of thousands of its young people for that cause, under that flag.
Of course, our system is not perfect for all people. There is no perfect system at the moment that would make all people happy. But look around on our planet and find a system that is good for all of its people — nothing is there.
The “experiment” created in 1776 is still the best there ever was. Many more people here live in better comfort and spiritual freedom, compared with any other current system. And people still literally stream by the millions into the USA because of that! They have no desire to burn that flag or trample on it.
To this I add a little bit of patriotism and pride in our nation. Yes, I was born in Germany, the land of my ancestors. I have maintained my cultural background, but my alliance is with the United States of America — land of the free and home of the brave.
Let us all maintain that freedom by not destroying our democratic and republican form of government. We can try to make it work even more broadly, but not by calling it oppressive or unequal. It is only oppressive and unequal to certain people or groups of people. Every system works that way.
On our national holiday, the Fourth of July, let us fly the flag high and with pride and honor.