What is patriotism?

To the editor:

I once asked a local Patriot, “What makes you more patriotic than me?”. His reply was “Did you serve?” My answer was “No.”

If that were the only criteria for being a patriot hardly any one else could qualify. From 1973 to today barely 1.3% of American citizens have joined our armed forces and roughly 5.9% of Americans are currently veterans.