Electricity filled the crowd in the Pensacola Civic Center this past Saturday, when Mitt Romney talked about an electricity of a different kind. Romney, a onetime Scout leader, was speaking about a Boy Scout ceremony in which the Scout leader from Monument, Colorado, told a story of a special flag.
This particular Scout division wanted a unique American flag to be remember within their troop. They bought a new flag and had it flown at the U.S. Capitol and then requested NASA send it on a space shuttle. The shuttle that the flag was on, happened to be the Challenger; the tragic flight that exploded midair in 1986.
The Scout leader called NASA and asked if any pieces of the flag had been found in the debris and if so, could it be sent to the Scout troop. They were informed that nothing had been found. Each month, thereafter, the leader continued to call. After many months of random discoveries, in the debris from the tragic explosion of Challenger, the Monument flag was discovered! A representative from NASA flew out and presented it to the Scouts in Colorado and amazingly enough, it was still folded neatly in the sealed container and in perfect condition.
The Scout leader unveiled this beautiful flag at a Scout Award Ceremony that Mitt Romney was attending. In amazement, Romney reach out and touched the flag. "I touched it," Romney told the Pensacola crowd, "and I felt electricity running through my arm."
The way Romney told the story captivated the crowd and the enthusiastic audience of 12,000 strong, became silent. Romney continued telling this story, this true and moving story into a broader narrative, quite seamlessly, about heroes and honor. A story told in the context of honoring heroes like the Navy pilots based there in "a city of heroes," Pensacola, and those pilots who had been based there in the past, like a man named John McCain. Romney began quoting a verse of America the Beautiful. "O beautiful, for heroes proved, in liberating strife, Who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life." The crowd stood motionless as he spoke, "This is who we are as a people. You don’t have to be bigger than things to be a hero, you just have to be bigger than yourself...to strive to live beyond oneself.”
His speech was not awkward or canned. None of it seemed forced, but it rang true and flowed naturally in a testimony from the heart. He opened up with a genuine appeal to the audience and had naturally inspired those who were present.
It wasn't just the crowd's enthusiasm that was electric that day, and it wasn't just the sensation of the Monument flag, but Romney himself was electric. He was the source of energy and there was a light coming from this amazing man. Romney was "hitting his stride” in an "elevated campaign" that was truly inspiring Americans.
Governor Romney has the look and feel of a true leader and certainly is worthy of serving this great nation. Let us turn up the volume for all to hear that his good works are just beginning. Linda Sumner Urza: onefineday11.blogspot.com
