Well, it happened again. For the fifth year in a row I couldn’t make it through Huddleston Elementary’s Veterans Day event with a dry eye. I did OK until the third-graders started singing “American Tears” and all around me I saw veterans, teachers and parents reaching for the Kleenex.

This is the fifth straight year I’ve been to this event. This year the word got around and there were lots of veterans there along with the entire student body and staff. I was fully braced to hear the old cracking voices of the veterans mixed with the clear, smooth voices of the youngsters singing the national anthem. But I forgot about “American Tears.”

Chorus director Allison Adams obviously put a lot of heart and soul into getting the children ready. Their sweet little voices, just a touch off-tempo with the music, was enough to keep the Kleenex flying.

A crisp Marine Corps salute goes once again to this year’s Veterans Day committee chair Kathryn Floyd and her crew: Sue Springer, Allison Adams, Bryan Tatum, Barb Bowen, Carol Funderburke, Elaine Baro and Linda Beaubien, and everyone else involved.

They have done so well over the past five years that they were presented a surprise plaque on behalf of all three major veterans groups in Fayette County: VFW Post 9949 and American Legion Posts 105 and 50.

A tearful principal Rebekah Maddox accepted it on behalf of students and staff and in the name of her father, who was also a veteran. “I think of him every time I look at the American flag,” she said.

As I listened to various speakers talking about different aspects of the day, I noted that the word “patriotism” was frequently used. I started to wonder what that word meant to a 10-year-old fifth-grader or a 6-year-old first-grader. Or for that matter, what it meant to the 20- and 30-year-old teachers and parents.

It dawned on me that the word “patriotism” is one thrown about pretty freely by media pundits, politicians, speechwriters and students. But how many of them really know what it means? How many Americans really know?

You could look the word up in a dictionary and read the definition. The American Heritage says it’s love of and devotion to one’s country. What does that mean? Pretty vague. I think Princeton University’s definition is maybe one that more veterans would identify with: love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it.

Lots of people use the word patriotism, but how many sacrifice for it? Veterans, whether from World War II, the War on Terror or any of the other wars in between, understand sacrifice. No matter if a veteran is combat hardened or serving at a first duty station, they understand sacrifice.

After all, they all went through boot camp (or basic training as some services choose to call it) or the equivalent for officers. That is the beginning of sacrifice. In that crucible they take all your possessions, including hair, money, clothes and, well, basically, your identity.

About two minutes after you step off the bus you begin to learn what it’s like to have all your freedom taken away. And it’s only after you’ve earned it with your sweat and dedication that you’ll get it back. Maybe all Americans should go through boot camp.

So maybe that’s why veterans of all backgrounds, and their families, truly have a better understanding of the word “patriotism.” Because it’s more than just a word, it’s a belief system, it’s a code of honor, it’s a shared experience of sacrifice.

Huddleston school counselor Bryan Tatum, a veteran of the War on Terrorism, punctuated this point when he told the audience that it is those who have had their freedom taken away who appreciate freedom the most. And yes, he was barely containing his American tears. Bryan understands patriotism.

Patriotism supersedes individual events, such as a government policy you might not agree with or a war you might not think needs fighting. Like true, unqualified love of a person, love of a country should be there all the time, no matter what happens. Because patriotism shouldn’t be just a word; it has got to go way beyond that. To truly understand it, I think, one has to sacrifice something first.

I wonder how many Americans really understand that. I know veterans do.

Randy Gaddo
Peachtree City, Ga.

Gaddo, Peachtree City’s director of leisure services, is a retired U.S. Marine.

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