When Was the First Time You Were Really Proud of America?

During the election, Michelle Obama took some heat for saying “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country, and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change.” I found that people's take on this comment largely depended on which side of the aisle they stood politically. But it got me thinking. When was the first time I was really proud of America? There have been many times that I have been proud of this country in my adult lifetime, but when was the first time in my life?

I was a youngster back in the 1970s and frankly I don't really remember a time of being proud. This could be due to the fact that I was very young, life was relatively carefree (at least for me) and my goal was to play and watch Sesame Street. However, it could also be due to the fact that America was stuck in Vietnam, our President resigned in scandal amid calls for impeachment, inflation and interest rates were at all time highs and Iranian militants held approximately 70 Americans hostage. The 1970s wasn't a great decade for the United States of America. I remember watching on television our troops coming home from Vietnam in defeat (at least politically), President Nixon's resignation speech and the nightly news updates on the hostage crisis. None of this caused me to exude any pride.

However, 53 days into the new decade changed everything for me. On February 22, 1980, twenty-five college hockey players and long-shot NHL aspirants took on the vaunted Soviet Union in the Olympic hockey semi-finals. The Soviet Union was made up of seven players from the 1976 Olympic team and one player from three other Olympiads. They had dominated the Olympics since 1964 and the United States was not expected to win. How could they with these amateurs and especially after the 10-3 thumping by the Soviets in the exhibition round? I remember nervously watching the game while sitting on the floor a mere four feet from our 20” console television. There were hundreds of American flags in the crowd. Not the small stick flag kind, but large American flags being waved about. Loud sustained chants of “USA, USA” echoed throughout the arena sending chills up my arm and it still does so today when I think about it. When Mike Eruzione scored the go ahead goal in the third period, I jumped up and down and ran around giving high-fives to everyone in my family. It was then that everyone thought that we could actually beat the Soviets. The remaining seconds of the game crescendoed the complete euphoria and adulation we all experienced. The Iranian hostage crises was still going on and interest rates and inflation were still high, but it was like we turned a corner, we had a more hopeful future. I was really proud of America that day. All of America was proud. It's a day I'll never forget and it helped shaped my love and admiration for this country.

When were you first proud of your country?

Watch this video to relive the remaining 15 seconds of this true “Miracle on Ice.”