Kesaya E. Noda's Veterans Day: Never Forget Their Duty

The definition of what it means to be American is defined through American people’s diverse backgrounds and the pride to protect the freedom of their country. Being American doesn’t depend on one’s ethnicity anyone can classify themselves as an American, even if other people don’t see it that way. In Kesaya E. Noda’s “Growing up Asian in America” she explains that her identity was challenged when she says, “Sometimes when I was growing up, my identity seem to hurtle towards me and paste itself right to my face. I felt that way, encountering the stereotypes of my race perpetuated by non-Japanese people (primarily white) who may or may not have had contact with other Japanese in America”(Kesaya 32). In other words, the author showed us how she
felt when her Japanese-American identity was challenged because of the prejudice of race from other non-Japanese and made her feel like she didn’t belong there. Later she responds to the stereotypes, “But now I can say that I am a Japanese-American. It means I have a place here in this country, too” (Kesaya 35). She is explaining even though she doesn’t look like the rest of the Americans, she still believes she should be considered American because her identity is Japanese-American. The American identity isn’t defined by one’s ethnicity, but one’s heart and character put into one’s country. A person’s heart and character put into his country to protect their freedom and rights is one way to define an American.
In John Sidney McCain’s “Veterans Day: Never Forget Their Duty” he talks about how far one of the prisoners of war that was with him went to show his pride for their country, “Sitting there, with his eyes almost shut from his beating, making another American flag. He was not making the flag because it made Mike Christian feel better. He was making that flag because he knew how important it was for us to be able to pledge our allegiance to our flag and country” (McCain 7). McCain’s quote explains that an American would do anything to protect freedom even if it means the ultimate sacrifice. In Franklin D. Roosevelt’s, “The Four Freedom” it shows how much Americans have faith in freedom and how far they go to protect it, “This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of its millions of free men and women, and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights and keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose” (FDR 45). In other words, the idea that keeps all the diverse groups together is the freedom, to protect their freedom because they don’t want to lose freedom that they
gained. How to define how to be an American isn’t define by someone’s ethnicity, but by the diverse group of people who unite to protect their freedom and how far they’ll go to protect it.