My grandfather was one of 120,000 Japanese Americans sent to internment camps during the height of WWII. Yet, when America called, he answered, leaving his family behind the barbed wire of Heart Mountain Relocation Center to serve in the United States Army.

To his dying day, my grandfather was never bitter, only proud to be an American. To him, our founding principles and the rights enshrined in our Constitution weren’t just worth defending, they were worth earning. The unfair hand he'd been dealt and the politics of his day were of no consequence; he was a son of the greatest nation on earth—and what's more, he had proven it (to himself as much as to anyone else). 

This is the brand of patriotism that we at Originalist Apparel strive to live by and inspire in others—one that focuses on principles, not people or politics. We don't excuse past (or current) wrongdoings, but we don't let them define us either. After all, America is the story of imperfect individuals, rallying around perfect ideals—mistakes come with the territory. 

But it's important to remember that those mistakes are on us and us alone. America—her founding principles and ideals—are sacred, infallible and beyond reproach. The question is: are you American enough to appreciate her, defend her and live worthy of her promise? 

We pray you are.
Godspeed, fellow patriot.