The U.S. Flag

[Ranger Mom]

http://www.photodump.com/direct/Kellye/usaCa.jpg

I am the flag of the United States of America.
My name is Old Glory.
I fly atop the world's tallest buildings.
I stand watch in America's halls of justice.
I fly majestically over institutions of learning.
I stand guard with power in the world.
Look up and see me.

I stand for peace, honor, truth and justice.
I stand for freedom.
I am confident.
I am arrogant.
I am proud.

When I am flown with my fellow banners,
My head is a little higher,
My colors a little truer.
I bow to no one!
I am recognized all over the world.
I am worshipped - I am saluted.
I am loved - I am revered.
I am respected - and I am feared.

I have fought in every battle of every war for more then 200 years.
I was flown at Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Shiloh and Appomattox.
I was there at San Juan Hill, the trenches of France,in the Argonne Forest, Anzio, Rome and the beaches of Normandy.
Guam, Okinawa, Korea and KheSan, Saigon, Vietnam know me.


I'm presently in the mountains of Afganistan and the hot and dusty deserts of Iraq and wherever freedom is needed.
I led my troops, I was dirty, battleworn and tired,
But my soldiers cheered me and I was proud.

I have been burned, torn and trampled on the streets of
countries I have helped set free.
It does not hurt for I am invincible.
I have been soiled upon, burned, torn and trampled in the streets of my country.
And when it's done by those Whom I've served in battle - it hurts.
But I shall overcome - for I am strong.

I have slipped the bonds of Earth and stood watch over the uncharted frontiers of space from my vantage point on the moon.
I have borne silent witness to all of America's finest hours.
But my finest hours are yet to come.

When I am torn into strips and used as bandages for my wounded comrades on the battlefield,
When I am flown at half-mast to honor my soldier,
Or when I lie in the trembling arms of a grieving parent
at the grave of their fallen son or daughter,

I am proud.

http://www.photodump.com/direct/Kellye/usaCa.jpg

[olddawggreen]

Thanks for that Ranger Mom. When I was in the Navy, my "Sea & Anchor " detail was to raise the US Flag on the fantail when we pulled into port and the flag was lowered from the ships mast and to lower it when we were underway. To see the US flag rippleing in the wind from the mast of a US War Ship is an awsome site.

I still think that the US Flag flying high is one of the most powerful and beautiful Sights Ive ever seen. When I watch it raised at ball games and other events, I can't help but get a chill when I think about everything it stands for and all of those that have sacrificed so much so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have and the lives we live.

[Sans Couth]

I know that there are a bunch of folks out there that know the words to the National Anthem. But some of you may have never read the entire poem by Francis Scott Key.

The Star-Spangled Banner
—Francis Scott Key, 1814

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever when free-men shall stand
Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd 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!


On Sept. 13, 1814, Francis Scott Key visited the British fleet in Chesapeake Bay to secure the release of Dr. William Beanes, who had been captured after the burning of Washington, DC. The release was secured, but Key was detained on ship overnight during the shelling of Fort McHenry, one of the forts defending Baltimore. In the morning, he was so delighted to see the American flag still flying over the fort that he began a poem to commemorate the occasion. First published under the title “Defense of Fort M'Henry,” the poem soon attained wide popularity as sung to the tune “To Anacreon in Heaven.” The origin of this tune is obscure, but it may have been written by John Stafford Smith, a British composer born in 1750. “The Star-Spangled Banner” was officially made the national anthem by Congress in 1931, although it already had been adopted as such by the army and the navy.

[Ranger Mom]

I feel really dumb now. I never knew there was more to that song than what we always hear!!!

[Sans Couth]

It really is a shame that the song would be way too long if the entire poem were made into the anthem. I think the other three 'verses' are just as moving as the first one.

[bullfrog_alumni_02]

Originally posted by olddawggreen
I still think that the US Flag flying high is one of the most powerful and beautiful Sights Ive ever seen. When I watch it raised at ball games and other events, I can't help but get a chill when I think about everything it stands for and all of those that have sacrificed so much so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have and the lives we live.

i couldnt agree more old dawg. thanks RM, if there werent ppl around right now id have a tear in my eye, just like the one in my heart.

[Ranger Mom]

Originally posted by bullfrog_alumni_02
i couldnt agree more old dawg. thanks RM, if there werent ppl around right now id have a tear in my eye, just like the one in my heart.

I totally understand....I teared up quite a bit and had a huge lump in my throat when I read it!!

The email I got came with a wav file of Elvis Presley singing America the Beautiful....it just sent chills down my spine.