Some Thoughts On Flag Day

 

Flag Day commemorates the adoption of the United States flag on June 14, 1777. It was established in August, 1949, although it is not a Federal Holiday.

Perhaps the most famous homage to our flag was the Star Spangled Banner, written as a poem on September 14, 1814, by Francis Scott Key. It was originally titled The Defence of Fort McHenry , and it describes the night-long siege on the Baltimore enclave. It became the National Anthem on March 3, 1941.

When I was a freshman cadet at the United States Air Force Academy, I was required to memorize the words of the Star Spangled Banner. The entire song, not just the first verse, which is the one we hear sung before every professional sporting event. The lyrics were not easy to learn, and on numerous occasions I missed the opportunity to eat, while sitting at attention in the dining hall, trying to recite – not sing – the words.

I’m glad I was required to learn the lyrics. Francis Scott Key poured his heart and soul into the poem, and that emotion comes through loud and clear when you read it. Look up the words on the internet, and read them to your children. All of the verses are powerful, but my favorite is the final stanza, the fourth:

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!