The Ideal American

         To some people, the mere word 'American' invokes a vivd image, a red-white-and-blue picture of battles won, farms tended, and homes made.  A portrait of a people willingly subject to freedom, a nation of servants ready to be painted in the vibrant hues of ideals.

         First comes the fiery red of enterprise.  Only by fixing it yourself can your situation be made better, and the ideal American knows that.  He knew it when America was a single colony huddled together in the winter, for the sake of freedom.  He knew it when that freedom was being won on the battlefield.  The crimson of enterprise glowed steady, from the dying fire of Jamestown to the gunfire and bloodshed of Yorktown.

         Then comes the whiteness of persistence.  Even when the war zones are clear of foreign invaders, trouble comes from within.  But sheer tenacity will keep the ideal American going, as in the ranches of the Old West and the advances made in the cities of the east.  The pure light of it shone, and will shine, clear and bright to anyone who would buckle down, make do, do without, and do or die.

         Finally comes the azure blue of patriotism, the loyalty that makes everything worthwhile.  A velvet chain that binds the ideal American to the true America, patriotism keeps him burning to start out and persist for something he knows is worth his very life.  It keeps his goal ahead, well in sight, where no earthly complaint or inadequacy can detract from it.

         Together, these red-white-and-blue qualities color the picture of the American of the past - and the future.