Flag Day

June 14th is Flag Day, and as we celebrate this year I want to reflect on our national anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner," by Francis Scott Key. Although we often sing it together at patriotic events and include it as part of the opening ceremony at baseball games, have you noticed that most of us only know the first verse?

Oh, 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 rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

There are three more verses to our national anthem, and we should not only learn them, but teach them to our children. Here are the next two.

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 in the stream;
'Tis the Star-Spangled Banner, Oh 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.

Recently we were reminded by the stunning performance of one tea party member that our national anthem also has a fourth verse, which I am including here along with the youtube video link to hear the resounding performance of this verse at a recent rally.

Oh, thus be it ever when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes 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 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!

Listen here to an impromptu performance of the last verse of the Star Spangled Banner.
Just click on the the words Star Spangled Banner to go to the link.

As I listened to the old marine sing this verse my vision blurred as my passion for God and country swelled in my heart. Have a Blessed Flag Day.