President Xi Jinping reviews the parade in Beijing, Sept 3, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - Wow! What an amazing event. Also, a very proud time for Chinese people everywhere.

I watched all of the events regarding the celebration of Victory Day. I spent the morning with the Wang family here in Zhengzhou. We watched half of the festivities on CCTV-13 and the other half I watched on CCTV News (CCTV-9) on my iPad.

The events were simply spectacular. President Xi showed himself as a true world class leader. Not just a leader of the largest populated country in the world, but, a leader who deserves the respect and honor due to any great man who has ever existed in history. The excellence and near perfection of all of the events showed his strength and character in a way that the world, and especially, the Chinese people need to see during this time.

Moreover, I feel embarrassed that my home country, the USA, didn't participate. What an excellent opportunity to show true international leadership to the world. Sadly, America missed that opportunity and for whatever reason, missed out on something that was intended to promote world peace.

I wondered why America chose not to be there. Was it simply a way to slap China in the face once again and somehow 'punish' them for whatever they perceive China to be? Did they do it simply because of some strange loyalty that they now have towards Japan? Did they not show up because they were embarrassed at the use of atomic weaponry against the Japanese and feared that this part of history would only remind others of the massive loss of life at that time? Did they not show because they feel that China wants to take credit for ending the war when in fact most of the world perceives that the two bombs dropped on Japan forced its unconditional surrender 70 years ago?

I honestly don't know. But, I do know that America missed a great opportunity to show the respect they believe they deserve in the world.

On another note, the Wang family celebrated the events as they should be celebrated. May Wang had all of us stand during the playing and singing of the Chinese national anthem. I stood up right along with the others. I was moved so deeply that I fought back tears. Each time a friend of China, leaders from Pakistan and of course, Russian President Putin, were introduced, May applauded for the bond of friendship of these countries. Again, I felt deeply moved at her show of patriotism, love and loyalty to her great country.

The outcome, in my mind, spelled hope and assurance for the future. China made a statement. President Xi was the voice of that statement. The statement said loudly and clearly, “We are strong. We are leaders. We stand for peace.”