A Very Special Flag Day
“You underestimate the will of the American people, Doctor.”
He poked his finger in the air for emphasis. “When you push us,
we push back. Hard. John Bull cannot bully America into
surrendering now any more than you could forty years ago. Have
you already forgotten the lesson of Fort McHenry?”
He rummaged in his desk and pulled out a tattered newspaper,
much folded and creased.
“My mother sent this to me with the letters, a newspaper from--Sea Change
home. A Mr. Key wrote a poem about the battle, Doctor, titled
‘The Defence of Fort McHenry.’ Look here—‘the land of the free
and the home of the brave.’ That’s America, Charley!”
June 14 is Flag Day in the US, the day we honor our nation's symbol of freedom. But this Flag Day is even more special. This year is the 200th anniversary of when a massive banner, 30 by 42 feet, flew over Ft. McHenry in Baltimore's harbor. It was a message to the Royal Navy that the new nation would fight, and that bold piece of cloth, seen against "the rockets' red glare" has been honored in song and verse since the War of 1812.
200 years later we're still here, standing proud. Long may it wave!
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