tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7825618881459948402.post1755162765154636243..comments2024-03-08T02:29:14.906-08:00Comments on Talkback with Chuck Wilder on CRN: 9/14 Pete Sepp, Patricia Sadar,Dave GibsonJennifer Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05740154344770741600noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7825618881459948402.post-23181025564773315052011-09-14T11:36:24.652-07:002011-09-14T11:36:24.652-07:00September 14 marks a milestone in American liberty...September 14 marks a milestone in American liberty: <br />On Sept 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote the “Star Spangled Banner.” Key wrote it after the nightlong, horrific bombardment of Fort McHenry by the invading English Fleet, which had to sail past Fort McHenry at Chesapeake Bay to attack Baltimore, MD. Despite massive fire power, the English Fleet was unable to destroy or subdue Ft. McHenry and its American defenders. The English gave up the effort.<br /> Francis Scott Key, detained on an English war ship to which he had gone to negotiate release of an American prisoner of the War of 1812, witnessed the spectacular rocket and bomb attack on Fort McHenry on the night of Sept. 13.1814. He paced the deck through the night, fearing the devastation of Fort McHenry. However, on the morning of Sept. 14, 1814, the huge American Flag at Fort McHenry, tattered by battle, still flew in the smoke-filled sky.<br /> Key, overwhelmed by patriotic emotion, started writing the poem he entitled “The Star Spangled Banner,” which, when fitted to a popular tune of the era, became enormously popular. In 1931, it would become officially the National Anthem of the United States of America.<br /> A unique tradition developed: Americans are the only people in the world who place their hands over their hearts in reverence and gratitude when their national anthem, the “Star Spangled Banner,” is played.<br /> May it ever be so in a nation whose freedom has been purchased and preserved by all the generations of Americans who have sacrificed and served under the American Flag, the “Star Spangled Banner.”REES LLOYDnoreply@blogger.com