Aknauta
03-06-2003, 05:27 PM
washingtontimes.com
February 26, 2003
Defending the dream
Suhail A. Khan
Some 35 years ago, an ambitious young man in his 20s arrived in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, the gateway to the promise of America. For years, the young man had made attempts to escape the poverty, the discrimination and the ignorance of his native country. The first of his large and impoverished family to finish high school, the young man scrimped, saved and borrowed enough money to finally make the long journey to freedom.
Upon arriving in New York, he boarded a Greyhound bus bound for Laramie, Wyo., where he found a job, won a university scholarship, and met and married an equally ambitious young woman. Together, the couple moved to California, raised a family, helped pioneer the first computer boom of the '70s and '80s, and, in short, realized the American Dream.
Before his passing almost four years ago, this proud American, Dr. Mahboob K. Khan, taught me, his oldest son, the treasured values of being an American; the freedom to voice an opinion, to engage and even criticize the government, to practice one's religious faith, and to secure economic security. But while he extolled the virtue of freedom, he was quick to remind my siblings and me that this liberty did not come without a price. With freedom came responsibility, and in cherishing our blessed status he warned that often sacrifices must be made to defend that freedom.
Link (http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20030226-91553978.htm)
February 26, 2003
Defending the dream
Suhail A. Khan
Some 35 years ago, an ambitious young man in his 20s arrived in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, the gateway to the promise of America. For years, the young man had made attempts to escape the poverty, the discrimination and the ignorance of his native country. The first of his large and impoverished family to finish high school, the young man scrimped, saved and borrowed enough money to finally make the long journey to freedom.
Upon arriving in New York, he boarded a Greyhound bus bound for Laramie, Wyo., where he found a job, won a university scholarship, and met and married an equally ambitious young woman. Together, the couple moved to California, raised a family, helped pioneer the first computer boom of the '70s and '80s, and, in short, realized the American Dream.
Before his passing almost four years ago, this proud American, Dr. Mahboob K. Khan, taught me, his oldest son, the treasured values of being an American; the freedom to voice an opinion, to engage and even criticize the government, to practice one's religious faith, and to secure economic security. But while he extolled the virtue of freedom, he was quick to remind my siblings and me that this liberty did not come without a price. With freedom came responsibility, and in cherishing our blessed status he warned that often sacrifices must be made to defend that freedom.
Link (http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20030226-91553978.htm)