The Divil made me say this... as my Gaelic speaking grandmother used to say. Her oldest son won the Navy Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star and two DFCs in separate actions during America's darkest hours of World War II. Her oldest daughter was one of the US Navy's first women officers. Her children earned her the right celebrate St. Patrick's Day and speak any damn language she wanted.
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The eminent journalist Russell Baker of Pulitzer Prize and NY Times fame also once opined that "We should all stop parading [ethnic heritage] and just all be Americans." His column on this thought appeared while Baker was hosting the BBC's Masterpiece Theatre on US public television. His introduction was accompanied by imagery primarily of British icons including Union Jack flags and RAF Spitfire model aircraft. The background behind Mr. Baker during his introduction included the Union Jack flag of Britain's United Kingdom.
Baker like my uncle was a Navy aviator, but Baker was barely able to make it out of flight school. He managed to calm his nerves to pass his last chance flight test by spending a night with a prostitute, but claimed he was too drunk to perform (the "I didn't inhale defense"), confessed in his Pulitzer Prize wining autobiography, Growing Up.
