Only freedom can work such miracles

I received this from a Marine buddy.

Excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper

We rarely get a chance to see another country's editorial about the USA.

Read this excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper. The article was written by Mr.
Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title "C"ntarea Americii, meaning
"Ode To America" on September 24, 2002, in the Romanian newspaper
Evenimentulzilei ("The Daily Event" or "News of the Day").

~An Ode to America~

Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if
you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world
and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs.
Still, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand
put on the heart.

Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the army, and the secret services
that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank
accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about. The
Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping
hand.

After the first moments of panic, they raised their flag over the smoking
ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national
flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on
every car a government official or the president was passing.

On every occasion, they started singing their traditional song: "God Bless
America"! I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours,
listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a
woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian
hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented
the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or
thousands of people.

How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being?
Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned
into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions
and millions of dollars were put in a collection aimed at rewarding not a
man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy.

What on earth can unite the Americans in such a way? Their land? Their
galloping history? Their economic power? Money? I tried for hours to find
an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding
commonplace.

I thought things over, but I reached only one conclusion...only freedom can
work such miracles.

Cornel Nistorescu

(This deserves to be passed around the Internet forever.)