No Celebrating Here

I was so in love with my country back in 1945. I was five, and  I can remember standing as tall as I could, and saluting every soldier I saw, begging to be allowed to go on base to watch the drill formations practice, pressed against the wire fencing my heart beat the same rhythms they marched to. Almost every time, I ended up in tears because I just couldn't hold in all of those feelings of pride in America, and love for all those brave men who were fighting  in war for us. All I ever wanted to be was a soldier even though they said I couldn't be one because I was a girl.