Uncle Sam wants you to speak English

"Uncle Sam wants you to speak English." I saw the word "Uncle Sam" quite a few times when I was in Vietnam and reading some foreign books, and now again in my English class.

Well, I don't know who is Uncle Sam. It must be someone respected, popular, or admired by everyone, a V.I.P. maybe. "Is he handsome; is he popular here; why didn't I see him on the money," I wondered? 

I asked my tutor, Mrs. Jensen last week, she smiled and explained to me that "Uncle Sam" means "US". When the country needs people to join the military, then the US wants you, in other words, Uncle Sam wants you. Ah, now I see. America really has a sense of humor.

Now one more question, why did they chose the name "Sam"? But not choose something else such as: Sally (too girly), or Sakura "too Japanese", or Sandeep (too Indian), or San Diego (it doesn't sound like somebody's name), etc. Okay, I think they tried many names before, and Uncle Sam was chosen. I am not sure about the reasoning, but one thing I'm sure that it's easy to remember for every one, especially me.