In March 2003, just before his father passed away and shortly after the invasion of Iraq began, Tom Riddle wrote a letter to the Kent-Ravenna Record-Courier describing what it felt like to be an American traveling abroad in the tense days before the war.
The letter sparked a torrent of responses from local — and some out-of-state — residents. Together, these letters offer a vivid snapshot of mid-American sensibilities toward patriotism, dissent, and tolerance at the outset of a defining conflict.
Two letters (March 27 and March 29) are sympathetic. The final letter, being the most extreme, is perhaps the most illuminating.
I thought that readers might be interested in hearing what it is like to be from Ravenna and a traveler outside the United States in these prewar days.
For the past few months I've been touring India. On this trip I've met very few of my fellow countrymen. It seems that American tourists are somewhat of an endangered species in India these days. We are afraid — afraid that we'll be caught in crossfire, afraid that we will be the victims of anti-American violence, afraid that the war will disrupt international air travel, or perhaps we are ashamed.
I fall into the latter group. I'm ashamed to be an American. Sometimes though I don't feel like an American. Sometimes I feel like a German tourist I read about a long time ago. He was a mountain climber who had come to India in 1938. His passion was mountains, still he was aware that his country had been taken over by a madman who was about to begin an insane war. (In case you have forgotten, Hitler was democratically elected.) He wrote that before World War II actually began, many German tourists were in a state of disbelief — it was not possible, they believed, for the motherland to invade a sovereign nation who had done them no harm.
On this trip I've met Americans who have similar feelings. They are in deep denial. They simply can't believe that their government, in their name, is about to invade a country that is being actively disarmed by the United Nations. They like to think that it is all a bad dream.
With my shame, whenever I meet a Frenchman, a German, an Israeli, or a Dutch person, I immediately apologize for my government. Sometimes I'll tell one of the George Bush jokes I've read on the Internet; other times I'll tell them that I appreciate the work that their government has done to stop the Americans and their British poodle, Mr. Blair.
The Indians I've talked to are baffled by the American government's desire to eliminate, at any cost, the government of Iraq, but no one has shown me any anti-American feelings. But if war comes, and everyone starts to hate all Americans, in the way that some Americans hate all Arabs, will I be able to blame them? Probably not. We will be getting what we deserve.
My advice to Tom Riddle is if he is ashamed to be an American, there are no walls or police at our borders to keep people in. No one is forcing him to remain an American citizen.
Since he has spent most of his life overseas, why not just go back to wherever and spend the rest of his life there?
America may not be perfect but it's the best country there is and we should be proud of it and support our leaders. May God protect both our military and all the innocent people who live in harm's way.
Concerning Tom Riddle's letter ("Ashamed American," March 18): To quote Mr. Riddle, "We will be getting what we deserve." This is clearly anti-American, and should be treated as such.
If Mr. Riddle has spent most of his life overseas maybe he should move there, but perhaps he is making too much money in this horrible country to renounce his citizenship. Why live in a place that makes you so miserable? Sounds like sour grapes.
Sounds like it's time for him to immigrate.
Sir, you have vehemently and publicly expressed your shame at being an American. I would like to suggest to you that you renounce your American citizenship and consider taking up residence in a country which more closely parallels your political sentiments.
Might I suggest Iraq! I am confident that they will more fully appreciate your "George Bush jokes."
I want to preface my comments by saying that I have known Tom most of my life. We grew up in the same neighborhood and both graduated from Ravenna High School in 1969. Tom's father, Hugh Riddle, just recently died and I extend my condolences to Tom and his family.
Needless to say, I was quite disturbed by Tom's remark that he is "ashamed to be an American." It is one thing to express a grievance toward our government's political or military policies; every American has that right of free speech. However, it is a despicable thing for Tom to say that he is ashamed to be an American. I believe that Tom has treaded on foreign soil far too long. He has forgotten his heritage and now forsakes his country. This is truly shameful.
I thank God Almighty for allowing me to be born a citizen of the United States of America — a land that I love. I will stand up and bravely proclaim that "I am an American." I support the brave men and women of the military for their service to our country.
Dear "Ashamed to be American": You should apply for citizenship in India and stay there. I am ashamed to live in the same country as you.
The United Nations and our own government agreed this needed to be done. How many years does someone like yourself give Iraq to comply? Like it or not, this war is going to happen, so you can either back our men and women of the military or go stand guard at Saddam's side in Iraq.
To Mr. Riddle, I salute your ignorance and hope your life is complete as an anti-American.
I feel sorry for him being ashamed to be American. Why does he feel compelled to apologize to France or Germany, I wonder? My father and two uncles sacrificed three years of their youth fighting World War II to defend France from Germany.
Rather than being ashamed of his own country and apologizing for the United States, Mr. Riddle should say thanks to the generation of men who gave their lives so that he would be free to travel abroad.
When I read the March 18 letter from Tom Riddle on his "shame" for being an American, I was first very angry, then thankful and finally sorrowful. I was angry that he would say such a thing, thankful that we live in a country that permits him to say what he feels and finally sorrowful that he doesn't appreciate being born in our great country.
I went to Haiti in February with my church and when I returned home, I wanted to get down on my knees and kiss the ground of our U.S.A. That trip gave me a whole new perspective of how fortunate we are to live in such a great country.
I will pray for you, Tom. God bless America.
The "Ashamed American" is perfectly free to renounce his citizenship and leave the country whenever he wants, because he has the freedom to make that decision.
He made the point that Hitler was also democratically elected, which sounds like he is comparing President Bush to Hitler. Really? In many countries that kind of comment would be called treasonous, and have dire personal results.
For the first time in our short history, mainland America was attacked without warning, with devastating consequences. Of the three intended targets, two were successfully hit, and the third was spared due to some resourceful heroes on an airplane. The twin towers were both non-military and non-governmental, so don't talk to me about collateral damage or the suffering of innocent people. We've been there, done that.
The inspection teams' efforts are a joke at the world's expense. Saddam has been laughing at the United Nations and all of its diplomatic efforts for a long time. This time, finish the job.
I am both shocked and ashamed of the thoughtless, ignorant remarks made by Tom Riddle last week. Have you been on foreign soil so long that you have forgotten where you came from?
As a man who is so privileged to travel the world and see the beauty of our world, I would think you would be thankful to have been born in America, a land of freedom and opportunity. I am thankful that I am an American. God bless them all. Support our troops and pray.
And then we have poor Mr. Tom Riddle who finds after years of playing the role of the "Flying Dutchman," globe hopping from one port of call to another, that he is suddenly ashamed of being an American.
We wonder what his family patriarch, H.W. Riddle, an early entrepreneur might say of this embarrassment, for America unquestionably has bestowed her blessings on the Riddle family for many years. As one who has lived in Israel, I can confidently say that Mr. Riddle need not apologize for his country to those good folk who have learned so well that the best defense is a good offense — a lesson that America, it seems, has been forced to re-learn.
Peace Corps experience in India has also taught me that despite what may be said, there would be precious few in that country who would not gladly trade passports with any American. But then, perhaps Mr. Riddle hobnobs with those precious few; in which case, he still has a lot to learn about India and perhaps about the real world as well.
I am horrified by the letters of my Portage County neighbors in response to Tom Riddle's anguished message.
Mr. Riddle wrote that he and other American travelers feel ashamed that the U.S. government, in their name — and yours and mine — was "about to invade a country that is being actively disarmed by the United Nations." Apparently, Record-Courier readers are not interested in hearing these concerns. Readers responded that Mr. Riddle should renounce his U.S. citizenship if he insists upon such dissent.
I ask, what is the meaning of the "freedom" for which Mr. Bush claims he has sent our soldiers into battle?
As I see it, Tom Riddle's father and grandfathers before him lived the American dream. Just look around Ravenna — Riddle St., Riddle Block and on and on. As he ventures to come home for his father's funeral this week I'd like to ask him how difficult it was to enter the United States of America with his citizenship? It's called freedom. Do they have that in other countries?
I have not been friends with Tom as long as Kainrad has; but over the past 20 years I've come to know him pretty well. I'd like to share some facts that Kainrad's letter failed to mention.
Tom's ancestors have been in America since well before the Revolution. Locally, they have been pillars of the community. Two roads and an important building in downtown Ravenna are named for the family. Tom has taken great pride in his family's contributions to the region, and he has devoted countless hours to documenting his ancestral heritage.
Tom could have enjoyed an easy life in the United States. Instead he joined the Peace Corps — and not for the normal two-year tour but for a good half dozen. He sacrificed his comfort, and at times his health, in order to assist impoverished communities in Thailand and the South Pacific. After the collapse of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, he risked his life to organize that country's first democratic election. More recently he has worked as a filmmaker in South and Southeast Asia.
Mr. Riddle is committed to our nation's core ideals: democracy, compassion, self-determination, empathy, and mutual respect. Tom follows world news in American as well as foreign papers, and he has spoken with hundreds of people in countries that are normally among our allies.
What makes our nation special is the willingness of citizens to criticize their government when it gets off track. Tom's letter does indeed reflect a tragedy, but not the one to which others have pointed. It is that our foreign policy has made a dedicated American feel apologetic and, as he reported, even ashamed of his national identity.
I began by thanking Mr. Kainrad for his insights. Let me end by thanking Mr. Riddle. It is because of patriots like you that, even in our darkest hours, I remain a proud American.
Tom Riddle is ashamed of me and he does not even know me. He said, "I'm ashamed to be an American. Sometimes though I do not feel like an American." Tom probably has no idea what he has started. Now whenever we people from Ravenna or Portage County meet another American, we immediately have to apologize for Tom Riddle.
American governments come, American governments go. Just because one dislikes or detests the domestic or foreign policy of the current government, that is no reason to renounce one's citizenship, flagellate oneself with the rod of righteousness or beg forgiveness of every foreigner one encounters.
Poor Tom! No matter how much water he carries for the Third World, he is still ashamed of himself and his nationality. When poor Tom looks in the mirror to shave, he sees the ugly American. My advice for Tom is to stop shaving, grow a beard and grow up.
Also, just like many Americans, many Germans do not know their own history. First of all, Germans do not have a motherland, they have a fatherland — and that fatherland did "invade a sovereign nation who had done them no harm." Remember Belgium and World War I?
"The letters echoed the same feelings of nationalism that you find everywhere in the world — and those are the same feelings that dictators use to force the ignorant masses to commit the most horrendous crimes."
Around March 10, a few days before I left India and just before I heard about the death of my father, I wrote this newspaper a letter discussing how it felt to be an American traveling overseas "in these pre-war days." The 15 responses appearing over the past month stimulated me to rethink my initial letter and compose the following reply.
I enjoyed every letter. I was happy to see that many contributors copied my writing style by overstating their case and employing an element of the dramatic.
Many commentators were surprised that "I am ashamed to be an American." Ashamed means "Feeling inferior, inadequate, or embarrassed." It is an emotion, similar to other emotions that arise from time to time in everyone. It comes and goes depending on the circumstances. And as American folk wisdom says of emotions, "you hurt the ones you love the most." A father might feel ashamed and angry because his son was arrested for driving while intoxicated; later he might feel proud when that same son is elected to high public office. Many Americans might feel ashamed when they think of the way we treated our native Americans in the 19th century and proud when they think of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
When the US recently eviscerated the UN and began the attack, I felt like the Pope did after the invasion began: "deeply pained."
Significantly, not one respondent said that I was wrong in my description of sentiments overseas just prior to the war. One person said, "I will stand up and bravely proclaim that I am an American." But no one actually said that what I had said was incorrect — or that they had recently stood up overseas and said that they were proud to be an American.
The letters echoed the same feelings of nationalism that you find everywhere in the world, and those are the same feelings that dictators use to force the ignorant masses to commit the most horrendous crimes. The Khmer Rouge (who killed about a million Cambodians) initially mobilized Cambodia "to protect our nation, to defend ourselves from outsiders, to preserve our way of life." Some of the respondents to my letter clearly were sleeping when their university history teachers taught the history of nationalism.
I was impressed by the sentiments of many of my fellow countrymen. Two women over 75 told me on different occasions that this war "is the stupidest thing the US government has ever done." One day I went to visit an old friend. At 87 he can still vividly recall the day he landed at the beach in Normandy on D-day. When I was a teenager he often expressed his disgust at "hippies." So I was on guard when he stepped out of his house as soon as he saw my car in his driveway. I wondered if he was going to call me some of the same names I've been called in the R-C. Instead he wanted to shake my hand and told me that he agreed with everything I wrote.
A day or so after my letter was published I received the first e-mail I've ever received from a leading businessman in downtown Ravenna. He wrote, "Please keep your letters coming to the RC and respond to the Ravenna natives who do not understand or even conceive there could be another side."
I think he summed it up well. Many people do not imagine that there could be another side. That is strange when you consider that the rest of the world saw that there could be another way. It is unbelievable to me that people in my generation, who lived through the Vietnam War, could listen to our government leaders speaking in double-speak and not know that they were not telling the truth.
We are reminded that some senior British and American government workers resigned rather than have their names associated with the governments that caused this war. Clearly it is our most divisive war since the Vietnam War. Like the Vietnam War, it is taking an immense toll in our cohesiveness as a nation. Let us all pray for peace.
A few people have cautioned me to be careful in Asia. In fact, though, Asians are very good at differentiating between the American people and the policies of the American government. Plus the streets of most Asian cities are much safer than the streets of American cities. In fact I'm a little worried about my dear countrymen who are staying here. If the world is angry at us, have we created more terrorists?