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In the midst of disaster, our flag still
stands out of the smoke, ash, and rubble. Soiled and bloody but standing
none the less. This flag, the World Trade Center flag, withstood the
attacks of madmen. It is a memorial to those who died in this tragedy and
a tribute to all those rescue workers and good citizens who are giving of
themselves in this time of need.
Pictures like this make me think back to long
ago when I was learning the songs of this great country. A particular song
comes to mind here, our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. The
line "...And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave..." (from
the original manuscript of Francis Scott Key) cries out of this picture.
If there was ever a time to stand up and sing our song, the time is now.
Because even now in a time of great
tragedy, the citizens of the United
States of America are standing together.
I do not know who took this photograph or
published it on the web, but I thank whoever it was. It is a powerful
vision of just what this country is all about.
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
through the perilous fight
O'er the ramparts we watch'd were so
gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bomb
bursting in air,
Gave proof through 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 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.*
*Complete
version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" showing spelling and
punctuation
from Francis Scott Key's manuscript in the Maryland
Historical Society
collection.
Best viewed at 1024x768 with IE 4.0 or Netscape 4.0
Big thanks to Gary Fochi for the Rocket and 442 symbols
that grace a few of the pages inside. To see more of his
work go to these 2 web pages:
http://home.earthlink.net/~bonniejf/main/main.htm
http://home.earthlink.net/~garyjf/
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