I remember it like it was yesterday. I was sitting in a living room packed with people at a house in our nation's capital, rooting for the American hockey team as it battled the Soviet Union in the Winter Olympics on Feb. 22, 1980 in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Before that fabled game began, nobody thought the Americans had a chance. The Soviet team was comprised of unbeatable gladiators who won gold medal after gold medal every four years.

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The Soviets were more like professionals than amateurs. We all assumed they were cheating, but even if they were, they were great, whether they were true amateurs or not.

The Americans were mostly college students, but even against the unbeatable Soviets, when they were long shot underdogs given little chance of winning, the Americans believed in themselves, they believed in their team and they believed in the dream.

The American coach, Herb Brooks, prepared the young Americans for the game like a Marine Corps drill sergeant in basic training. He worked them in practice day after day, conditioning their bodies and their minds, giving them the will to win.

Almost from the beginning of the game the Soviets were ahead. The Soviets would score and the crowd at Lake Placid would moan. But then, the Americans scored and tied the game. The crowd in the arena rose, and we Americans around the nation pumped our fists, stomped and cheered.

It happened again and again and during the game: The Soviets were relentless, but every time, after every goal, the Americans would fight back.

As the final period began, the Soviets were ahead 3-2 and the great American goalie, Jim Craig, was batting away one Soviet shot after another.

Then, midway through the stanza, taking one wild and desperate shot after another, the Americans scored and tied the game. Barely a minute later, Mike Eruzione fired a puck into the Russian net and the Americans took the lead, 4-3. The Americans went berserk with joy.

With the incomparable announcer Al Michaels calling the action from the booth, the final minutes of the game were among the most thrilling in the history of sports. The Soviets fired shot after shot, and Craig batted them away one by one. The Soviets stormed around the goal, and the American defenders blocked their path.

In the final 10 seconds, as the Soviets furiously tried to score and the Americans battled against them, Michaels shouted: “DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES? YES!” The game ended.

The Americans on the ice went crazy in jubilation; the rest of the team poured out onto the ice waving their arms; the Americans in the arena went completely insane; and Americans from coast to coast rose to their feet cheering, hugging and waving our arms with a spirit of American patriotism that lit the sky!

Miracles do happen. Then, in the coming decade:

The Soviets tried to rule Poland, but in the end, the people of Poland threw them out, and Lech Walesa went from a communist prison to being the president of his country.

The Soviets tried to rule the nation then called Czechoslovakia, but the Czech people threw them out, and Vaclav Havel went from a communist prison to becoming the president of his country.

Bulgaria, Romania, East Germany and nations throughout the Soviet empire threw their overlords out and reclaimed their independence, which Vladimir Putin once said was the greatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century.

Let's remember that moment in Lake Placid when Americans stood together, and American patriotism lit the skies.

Let's remember the history of the 20th century when we consider how to respond to the Russian challenge to American democracy today.

Brent Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), who was chief deputy majority whip of the U.S. House of Representatives. He holds an LLM in international financial law from the London School of Economics.