What a beautiful, wonderful essay. I'd read it again but I've run out of Kleenex. I'm relieved to know that I'm not the only one who gets choked up.

Of all the valor and sacrifice of that period, the story of the Tuskegee Airmen is particularly close to my heart. As one of the survivors put it: "I think we're the only people who had to sue for the right to die for their country". The faith in this country they showed in the face of bigotry and discrimination is inspiring. I was at the Experimental Aircraft Association annual event (one of the biggest aviation gatherings in the world each year) in 2007, and discovered the Tuskegee Airmen had an exhibit. I just wanted to say thank you, but despite being there all week I couldn't get within ten feet without verging on breaking down.

This country is richer for your family's presence (and those of the other Cuban exiles). When I was 10 we lived in a duplex owned by a Russian immigrant couple. The man was a successful plumber, a bluff but kindly type, and the grandmotherly wife would sometimes let us come in to watch their new black-and-white Philco TV with the round screen. I found out much later from my mom that they were true refugees - that the wife was the only survivor of her family from the revolutionary period, hiding on the top of a railway car while the rest were massacred. Perhaps the young couple you mentioned will wise up some day.

Anyone who is confused about who is or isn't an American should read Lincoln's "Electric Cord" speech. It hasn't been said any better.