Needless to say, of course, the “chaos” that the Poles stopped at Vienna consisted of an Islamofascist onslaught by the Evil (Ottoman) Empire, which had already subjugated most of the Balkan region. Furthermore, the anniversary of one of the Islamofascist world’s worst catastrophes– ranking easily with Tours and Lepanto– can be observed right after the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The following picture should give the general idea. Poland has, like the United States, always stood for freedom and individual liberty, including freedom of religion. The story behind the Polish Eagle carries the same message. According to legend, a Polish duke named Lech tried to steal eggs or fledglings from the nest of a white eagle. The eagle defended her nest and both she and Lech were wounded. The Duke was then ashamed of trying to steal the children of this brave creature and proclaimed that the white eagle would henceforth be the symbol of Poland.

It is also important to remember that two Poles, Casimir Pulaski and Thaddeus Kosciuszko, were instrumental in the foundation of the United States itself. They doubtlessly helped us because the Founding Fathers stood for Polish ideals of freedom and liberty. Unlike France– which chopped the head off the king whose government aided our War of Independence– Poland has never stood for anything but genuine individual liberty and freedom, even during the darkness of its occupation by Russia, Austria, and Prussia and then by the Soviet Union.

The United States and Poland share another proud characteristic. It has been and may still be an almost-invariable rule of warfare that a country will surrender when the enemy occupies its capital. The United States and Poland both suffered this indignity twice but nonetheless continued to fight and in fact eventually prevailed. During the War of Independence, England captured Philadelphia (then the capital) but failed to defeat the American army. The British actually burned Washington DC during the War of 1812 but again failed to obtain an American surrender.

During the Swedish Deluge (1655), the Swedes captured Warsaw but failed to subjugate Poland, and were later driven out by rebel peasants and undefeated elements of the Polish Army. The Nazis captured Warsaw in 1939 but Poland (unlike France) never surrendered and what was left of the Polish Army continued to fight until the end of the war.

We should therefore encourage states (and preferably the entire country) to name September 12 “King John Sobieski Day” as an unofficial holiday to be recognized much as “everyone is Irish” on St. Patrick’s Day. Coffee and crescent pastries (modeled on the battle prizes taken by the Poles at Vienna) can be eaten on Sobieski Day much as corned beef and soda bread are eaten on St. Patrick’s Day.

On another note, the seemingly-unimportant Daffodil Day (March 1) is actually St. David’s Day, which the Welsh commemorate by wearing leeks in their caps. This custom in turn commemorates a great battle in which the Welsh soldiers wore leeks to distinguish themselves from the enemy, who unfortunately consisted of Saxons instead of Islamofascists. Had the Welsh killed fundamentalist Muslims instead of Saxons, plenty could be done with “Men of Harlech” as well.