On Saturday, I visited the American Heritage Museum for their Tank Demonstration event. Seeing these machines, primarily from World War II, in operation is truly a wonder. A conflict that started over 80 years ago and claimed the lives of more than 70 million is forever memorialized in museums like the American Heritage, Battleship Cove, and countless others across the United States and around the world. This weekend also honors Memorial Day—the day the United States remembers the military personnel who died while serving in the armed forces.

I have watched countless documentaries, read books on the subject, and attended museums honoring this time in our history, which we hope and pray is never repeated. The United States, by all accounts, is still a young country, but one that truly saved the world from itself. If the United States hadn’t entered World War II, I shudder to think what kind of world we would be living in—if living at all.

It is safe to say that if you asked the 300+ million American citizens what the United States means to them, you would probably get 300+ million different answers. However, I believe there would be many common threads from all stations of the country, with the most common being that of freedom—the inherent right as a citizen to be anything you want to be. The common question we all get as children and teenagers is, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Because that one question is what America is all about: to hope, to dream, to build, to create.

But don’t let my love of the flag and democracy create a “rose-colored glasses” impression that being an American is easy. As one veteran said to me this past week, “We have our problems, but the United States is still the best country in the world.” To be the best, we all must work at it—daily. Whatever we decide to do, we should do the best we can and instill the best in others to do the same. We all know that many of us have had to endure great difficulties at various moments in our lives, but through it all, there is always hope—hope for a better tomorrow.

“Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” – President Kennedy

I recently visited the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. I have always been struck by one particular passage in President Kennedy’s inaugural address: “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” Yes, that can be a tall order when so many are faced with the realities of life. But what we do does not have to be Herculean; it can be as simple as helping when one can.

America is many things to many people. There are those that love it, and there are those who hate it. I believe the latter simply don’t want to take the time to understand it. Because to understand the freedoms we have in this country and the unalienable rights they convey, the truths alone are self-evident.

The Constitution.