Star Spangled Banner???

[Foul Mike]

Today at the Legion Hall it was brought to my attention the last part of the Star Spangled Banner by an OLD WWII vet what is said.
"Oh say does that Star spangled banner yet wave? Over the land of the free and the home of the brave?"
I had not thought of it as a question before, but after he brought it up I did some thinking.
Our forefathers may have been thinking and put that in there that way for us down the line to think about and keep our country clean and Free.
Happy 4th of July, and God Bless all of our people under arms, currently and in the past.
Regards, FM E 5/7 Cav. 1st. Cav Div 69/70

 

[1time]

It's probably in there because Francis Scott Key was sitting in a British ship wondering if the flag was still there.

 

[Maser]

You are aware that the Star Spangled banner was written by Francis Scott Key, not our Founding Fathers. It didn't become our OFFICIAL National Anthem until 1931. None the less, bless all those who served to protect our Freedoms that we sometimes take for granted. And bless those that are currently serving.

 

[Foul Mike]

Aware of it all.
It still brings up the question does it not?
Did Francis Scott Key know any of the Old Guys and what was his inspiration.
Was he looking down the road? FM

 

[1time]

His inspiration was he was being held captive while his country was being attacked. He was not sure if his home would be the USA or a British colony when he returned.

 

[Maser]

He was an up and rising poet and you know how poets word things in their own ways. The poem pretty much described what he was seeing during the battle at Fort McHenry by the Royal British Navy. Rather than document it in a diary/journal format, he chose to use poetry as his means of documenting what he saw.

 

[Veer_G]

It's the story of two different flags commissioned for Fort McHenry, and the absence of the larger, more visible one through the course of most of the overnight battle. The copy at the Smithsonian Institution's web site explains it pretty well:

In June 1813, Major George Armistead arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, to take command of Fort McHenry, built to guard the water entrance to the city. Armistead commissioned Mary Pickersgill, a Baltimore flag maker, to sew two flags for the fort: a smaller storm flag (17 by 25 ft) and a larger garrison flag (30 by 42 ft). She was hired under a government contract and was assisted by her daughter, two nieces, and an indentured African-American girl. The larger of these two flags would become known as the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Pickersgill stitched it from a combination of dyed English wool bunting (red and white stripes and blue union) and white cotton (stars). Each star is about two feet in diameter, each stripe about 24 inches wide. The Star-Spangled Banner’s impressive scale (about one-fourth the size of a modern basketball court) reflects its purpose as a garrison flag. It was intended to fly from a flagpole about ninety feet high and be visible from great distances. At its original dimensions of 30 by 42 feet, it was larger than the modern garrison flags used today by the United States Army, which have a standard size of 20 by 38 feet.

The first Flag Act, adopted on June 14, 1777, created the original United States flag of thirteen stars and thirteen stripes. The Star-Spangled Banner has fifteen stars and fifteen stripes as provided for in the second Flag Act approved by Congress on January 13, 1794. The additional stars and stripes represent Vermont (1791) and Kentucky (1792) joining the Union. (The third Flag Act, passed on April 4, 1818, reduced the number of stripes back to thirteen to honor the original thirteen colonies and provided for one star for each state — a new star to be added to the flag on the Fourth of July following the admission of each new state.) Pickersgill spent between six and eight weeks making the flags, and they were delivered to Fort McHenry on August 19, 1813. The government paid $405.90 for the garrison flag and $168.54 for the storm flag. The garrison flag would soon after be raised at Fort McHenry and ultimately find a permanent home at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. The whereabouts of the storm flag are not known.

...

Because the British attack had coincided with a heavy rainstorm, Fort McHenry had flown its smaller storm flag throughout the battle. But at dawn, as the British began to retreat, Major Armistead ordered his men to lower the storm flag and replace it with the great garrison flag. As they raised the flag, the troops fired their guns and played “Yankee Doodle” in celebration of their victory. Waving proudly over the fort, the banner could be seen for miles around—as far away as a ship anchored eight miles down the river, where an American lawyer named Francis Scott Key had spent an anxious night watching and hoping for a sign that the city—and the nation—might be saved.

...

When he saw “by the dawn’s early light” of September 14, 1814, that the American flag soared above the fort, Key knew that Fort McHenry had not surrendered. Moved by the sight, he began to compose a poem on the back of a letter he was carrying. On September 16, Key and his companions were taken back to Baltimore and released. Key took a room in the Indian Queen Hotel and spent the night revising and copying out the four verses he had written about America’s victory. The next day he showed the poem to his wife’s brother-in-law, Judge Joseph Nicholson, who had commanded a volunteer company at Fort McHenry. Nicholson responded enthusiastically and urged Key to have the poem printed. First titled “The Defence of Fort McHenry,” the published broadside included instructions that it be sung to the 18th-century British melody “Anacreon in Heaven” — a tune Key had in mind when he penned his poem. Copies of the song were distributed to every man at the fort and around Baltimore. The first documented public performance of the words and music together took place at the Holliday Street Theatre in Baltimore on October 19, 1814. A music store subsequently published the words and music under the title “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

More here: Encyclopedia Smithsonian: Star-Spangled Banner and the War of 1812

 

[pawprint2]

How many recognize the second half of the Star Spangled Banner?

"On the shore dimly seen through 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 in 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 footstep’s 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 freemen 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 power 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."
We all know the first half, but far tooooo many don't even know there was more to the original poem!

 

[Foul Mike]

Good on all respects.
Got us all thinking and coming up with some neat history.
Mission accomplished. Keep it coming. Regards, FM

 

[fx77]

As posted by pawprint 2..above, the question is answered in the last verse of the poem..

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave."



I actually knew that because in grammar school in the 50's we memorized all three verses...doubt anyone from the schools of today can say that ..

 

[Killer Spade 13]

Hey, FM, I bet I ferried your sorry butt around III corps in my Huey on occasion !!!

Happy Fourth, Brother !!! And welcome home!!!

Killer Spade 13, "B" Co., 229th Aviation Bn., 11th Avation Group, 1st Cavalry Division (Air Mobile)

 

[Foul Mike]

Spade, I would put money on it that you did. Places like LZ Andy, Joe, Mary, Buttons etc. Don't remember then all off hand.
We sure were glad to see you a lot of times. Not so happy going out to the boonies, but elated to come back in.
Thanks for the rides. PM me if you have some spare time. FM

 

[Jethro21]

I would just say that the most inspiring verse of our anthem is the last one, it is a true testament to what preserved our country- the blessing of God and the will of the people to fight for a just cause.

Unfortunately I would bet the majority of our populace only thinks our anthem has one verse...