we are america and we are alone
I am grief stricken. Four-thousand lives have been extinguished in my homeland. Land of my father. My grandfather. My great great grandfather.
Four-thousand lives.
Probably more.
There are nations that hide their smiles.
Or do not.
There are nations that espouse support.
Verbal support.
"Dear Americans we feel your pain."
Broadcast over and over. . . .
I am exhausted from foreign nations "feeling our pain."
Every disaster that strikes another country, America is there. We show up with medical supplies. With blankets. Food. Clothing. Doctors. We volunteer blood. We volunteer planes. We volunteer hands. We build dams. We build irrigation systems. We search for survivors. We scan for mines. We comfort the wounded. We administer to the sick -- and the dying. We are "those warmongering Americans" who lifted every nation out of the wreckage of World War II. Allies AND enemies. In a war we did not start. We only finished. We have rebuilt railways in France. Germany. India. We have rebuilt more cities than we can count. Not on our soil. On theirs. We have saved economies. We have saved the children. We have saved the world. With our hands. With our hearts. With our sweat. With our lives.
Not once in my lifetime do I remember another nation lifting a finger to help America. Not once in my lifetime do I remember another nation even offering. Not during tornadoes. Floods. Earthquakes. Droughts. Fires. Volcanic eruptions. Bombings. Economic crisis. Or terrorist attack.
Four-thousand missing or dead.
There is no medical assistance on its way to America. No search and rescue volunteers. No blankets. No food. No clothing. No doctors. No engineers. No helping hands.
There is not an offer.
There is not even an impulse.
Just a phone call.
"We feel your pain."
Thanks for the phone call.
Now excuse us. We must count and mourn our dead. Comfort our wounded. Rebuild our cities. And fight our battles.
The way we always do.
Alone.
