Have you ever seen the world around stand still? Even if it was for a minute or two? Regardless of creed, color, age, wealth or position, have you ever experienced a singular action that unifies even for a moment these backgrounds? You might be thinking that it is not possible to bridge all these gaps even if it was momentary, but I would have to disagree.
At 5 p.m. in different parts of the world, life, work and dreams all pause. On US military bases around the world, at 5 p.m., the national anthem is blared through speakers across the military installations. The sound permeates everything from cars and buildings, to thoughts and our hearts. Before it is played, trumpets echo across the land informing us all that the time of reverence has come. And like clockwork, we all rotate with our hands across our chest or we stand at attention, only in uniform though, and face towards the music.
There is a definite pause though between the trumpets and the anthem. The quietness that encompasses the area is chilling. Sometimes it seems so quiet that if you dropped a pin on one side of the base you could probably hear it on the other if you listened hard enough. Before the anthem starts, we all begin to take our positions and we look over the people in the environment around us—don’t deny it everyone does it. It is an unwritten cardinal rule that when the music starts, you do not move and you do not talk. We know if you do both, and although we may not correct you (some people do), we will remember it.
The national anthem is pretty important. For military service members and their families, the anthem to us is a daily reminder of what we have personally sacrificed in order to protect what we love—our country and our people. When civilians witness the 5 p.m. ritual, I like to think that they are in awe, or at least have more reverence to the flag and the music. When the music is played, it seems even if for a moment that the divisions that exist between us as a people are momentarily forgotten. We are reminded then as the music courses through our ears into our blood, and then our hearts that at the end of the day each of us are the same, that we are all Americans.
It is kind of cool though to see the world stand still, or least the part you are in. It is even cooler to think that this tradition is generations old and that all around the world, people from all different backgrounds have partaken in it.
Every time I hear it though, regardless of what I am doing if I am outside, inside or outside the base, I pause. Not out of habit, but because I know that when that song plays, I gain a little more appreciation than I had yesterday to call myself an American. Many have sacrificed their lives for that flag and for what it represents, and the national anthem unites as a people to remember their sacrifice, to remember the flag and to ensure that we honor it in all we do.
