Johnny Cash was a proud American, and he wasn’t ashamed to let everyone know. During a concert in the 70’s, Cash performed a beautiful song that explains why every American, no matter who you are, should respect our flag. This video should be played in every NFL locker room and in every college classroom.

“Out of all of the places we’ve ever been overseas, and of all the places we’ve been overseas…it don’t matter where… ya know. When we come back to this country, we love it a whole lot more than when we left and went somewhere else. I thank God for all of the freedoms we’ve got in this country. I cherish them and treasure them. Um…even the rights to burn the flag, ya know. I’m proud of those rights.”

The crowd can be heard moaning and is clearly not happy with Cash saying he cherished the right to burn the American flag.

“Lemme tell you something. Shhh!”

“We’ve also got the right to bear arms, and if you burn my flag, I’ll shoot you!”

Cash then clarified his statement, “But I’ll shoot you with a lot of love, like a good American!”

“After such a trip overseas in 1975, I wrote this…”

Watch, as Johnny Cash performs Ragged Old Flag, a beautiful song  he wrote that gives the history of why Americans honor our flag:

Before becoming a musician, Cash worked in the Air Force. While most people waited to be drafted for the required two years, Cash wanted more and stayed for four. He was shipped to Germany during the Korean War. His role was to intercept and decipher Russian morse code.

The man in black, discovered that Soviet Union Premier, Joseph Stalin, died before US president Dwight Eisenhower even knew. He was working as a radio operator for the military at the time of Stalin’s death and was the first person to receive the message.