¶

THE

¶ UNITED STATES ¶

OF

¶ AMERICA ¶

¶ OLD GLORY ¶

You are:

The most singular ¶ The most significant

The most superlative ¶ The most sublime

Flag in all the world

You symbolize the true essence of:

America ¶ Americanism ¶ and American Patriotism

You are the symbol of:

The Greatest Nation in the World

The land of the free and the home of the brave

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

And the fundamental and undeniable principles for which she stands:

HONOR - To Be Good ¶ LIBERTY - To Be Free

EQUALITY- To Be One ¶ JUSTICE - To Be Fair ¶ HUMANITY - To Be Kind

Your elegant and ever-meaningful colors of:

Defines: Courage, Zeal, Perseverance, Vigilance, Strength and the Lifeblood of Patriotic Americans

Defines: Honor, Morality, Purity in Word and Deed, Cleanness of Life and Rectitude of Conduct

¶ BLUE ¶

Defines: Faith in God, Liberty, Justice, Loyalty, Friendship, Responsibility and Truth

You are the symbol of:

OUR DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

Whereby: We hold these truths to be self-evident

That all people are created equal / That all people are made the same

With a Heart!  And a Soul! 

With a Body!  And a Mind!

That no one is better than oneself

That oneself is no better then someone else

That it is wrong to bully someone else

That it is wrong to make-fun-of someone else

That all people are endowed by their Creator

With certain unalienable, natural, rights

That among these natural rights are:

¶ LIFE ¶

That it is right for all people to Live

¶ LIBERTY ¶

That it is right for all people to be Free

¶ And the pursuit of HAPPINESS ¶

That it is right for all people to be Happy

You are the symbol of:

OUR UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

The embodiment of democratic principles

The basic instrument of our government

And the supreme law of our land

Founded upon the essential rights of all people

With the promise that those essential rights

Will be respected and protected

You are the symbol of:

Our Loving Parents

Our Devoted School Superintendants, Principals and Teachers

Our Mentally and Physically Challenged Americans

Our Younger Americans and Senior Citizens

Our Honest Workers and Selfless Volunteers

Our Patriotic Americans

You are the symbol of:

Our Honorable and Brave Patriotic Americans who founded our country

Our true American Patriots ¶ Our true American Heroes

Who gave unselfishly of themselves in service to our country

You are the symbol of:

Our Honorable and Brave Patriotic American men and women

Our true American Patriots ¶ Our true American Heroes

Made up of all races, colors and creeds

Who have given and who are giving unselfishly of themselves in service to our country

You are the symbol of:

The greatest military in the world

The Armed Forces of the United States:

Our United States Navy

Our United States Marine Corps

Our United States Army

Our United States Air Force

Our United States Coast Guard

Our United States Merchant Marines

Our Army National Guard

Our Air National Guard

You are the symbol of:

The greatest Public Safety in the world

Our Police Department

Our Fire Department

Our First Aid and Ambulance Corps

You are the symbol of:

Our Honorable and Brave Patriotic Americans

Our true American Patriots ¶ Our true American Heroes

Made up of all races, colors and creeds

Who have given and who are giving unselfishly of themselves

Through their service and sacrifice in the following wars' and conflicts':

The Revolutionary War

The Indian Wars

The War of 1812

The Mexican-American War

The United States Civil War

The Spanish-American War

World War I

World War II

The Korean War

The Vietnam War

The Bay of Pigs

Beirut Conflict

Bosnia Conflict

Granada Conflict

Haiti Conflict

Operation Allied Force

Operation Anaconda

Operation Desert Fox

Operation Desert Storm

Operation Enduring Freedom

Operation Iraqi Freedom

Panama Conflict

Persian Gulf Conflict

Somalia Conflict

You are the symbol of:

Our Honorable and Brave Patriotic American Prisoners of War

Our extraordinary American Patriots ¶ Our extraordinary American Heroes

You are the symbol of:

All the suffering they endured in service to our country that is beyond human comprehension.

You are the symbol of:

All who suffered, who are suffering and who have died, mercilessly at the hands of the enemy.

You are the symbol of:

All Our Honorable and Brave Patriotic American Prisoners-of-War, living and dead

And our reverent and ever-faithful recognition

To all Our Honorable and Brave Patriotic American Prisoners-of-War and Missing-in-Action

Still unaccounted-for and the many who never came home, never came home.

They shall never-be-forgotten.

You are the symbol of:

Our Honorable and Courageous / Gracious and Incomparable

Patriotic American Women

Our true American Patriots ¶ Our unsung American Heroines

Who have served and who are serving our country with steadfast devotion

Not only in the Armed Forces and Public Safety of our United States, but also in civilian life

Who through her bounty of abiding strength and gentle courage

Has mothered and safeguarded:

Honor ¶ Liberty ¶ Equality ¶ Justice ¶ and most assuredly Humanity

 You are the symbol of:

Our Honorable Gold Star Mothers ¶ Our Sublime American Patriots

 You are the symbol of:

Our Honorable Gold Star Wives ¶ Our Superb American Patriots

 You are the symbol of:

All Our Honorable Women who have worked and who are working in:

Our Public Education, Our Public Service

Our Ladies Auxiliary, Our American Red Cross, Our USO, Our Special Services

Our Defense Department and/or Our Defense Plants ¶ Our true American Patriots

 You are the symbol of:

Our Honorable Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, Wives, Aunts, Nieces - Girlfriends of:

American Servicemen and/or Public Safety Personnel ¶ Our True American Patriots

Thank God for all of you!

We could not have made it without you.  And we will never - ever make it without you.

You are the symbol of:

The hundreds of thousands of:

Our Honorable and Brave Patriotic Americans

Our true American Patriots ¶ Our true American Heroes

Made up of all races, colors and creeds

Who have sacrificed their precious lives, their precious loves and possessions for us - for our country in the line-of-duty

And Who are sacrificing their precious lives, their precious loves and possessions for us - for our country in the line-of-duty

You are the symbol of:

Our American Soldier, Sailor, Airman/woman and Marine

And there are none so brave

A supreme patriot who made the supreme sacrifice

You are the symbol of:

Our Honorable Americans

Our Loyal Patriots

Our Outstanding Citizens

Our Noble Countrymen and Women

Our Brave Warriors

Our Unyielding Defenders

Our Real Champions

Our True Heroes

Our Faithful Guardians

Our Fearless Saviors

Our Blessed Martyrs

You are the symbol of:

Their service and sacrifice

Their suffering and death - blood, sweat and tears

You are the symbol of:

The most splendid reality they have made for you and me

For millions upon millions of Americans

And for millions upon millions upon millions of people

To possess a magnificent birthright

And the bountiful satisfaction

Of living their lives in Freedom

You are the symbol of:

Their supreme patriotism and ultimate sacrifice 

You are the symbol of:

Our wholehearted and everlasting gratitude

You are:

¶

¶ OLD GLORY ¶

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¶ The Betsy Ross Flag ¶

The Story of the Betsy Ross Flag

Betsy Ross is best known for making the first American flag.

The story told is that she made the flag after a visit in June 1776

by George Washington, Robert Morris, and her husband's uncle, George Ross.

She demonstrated how to cut a 5-pointed star with a single clip of the scissors, if the fabric were folded correctly.

The Betsy Ross flag was designed during the American Revolution - June 1776

and features 13 stars to represent the original 13 colonies.

There was an act that said that the flag of the thirteen United States be the thirteen stripes, alternated with red and white

and the union be thirteen stars in white in a bay of blue field that would represent a new constellation.

Washington said that they take the stars from the heavens

and the red from our mother country that would separate it by white stripes, and the white stripes will mean liberty.

The Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution of 1777 on June 14, 1777

making the Betsy Ross flag the first official flag of the United States.

This date is now celebrated annually as Flag Day.

Nicknames for our flag are:

The Star-Spangled Banner, Old Glory and Stars and Stripes

THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL COLONIES

Rhode Island

Connecticut

New Hampshire

Massachusetts

Middle Colonies

New Jersey

Pennsylvania

Delaware

New York

Southern Colonies

South Carolina

North Carolina

Virginia

Maryland

Georgia

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¶ THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER ¶

The British attack on Fort McHenry began early on September 13, 1814  in pouring rain.  

All through the day and into the night, rockets and shells battered the fort that guarded Baltimore Harbor.  

The British ships carried mortars capable of lobbing bombshells over a target from two miles away.

The high-trajectory shells exploded above the heads of Americans in the fort, raining deadly shrapnel down on them.  

Fires raged wherever the shells landed.  For much of the battle, the British bombshells were falling at a rate of one a minute.  

As many as 1,800 bombs were fired at the fort; the U.S. commander later estimated that 400 fell within its walls.

 Oh say can you see

By the dawns early light

What so proudly we hailed

At the twilight’s last gleaming

Whose broad stripes and bright stars

Through the perilous fight

O’er the ramparts we watched

Were so gallantly streaming

And the rockets red glare

The bombs busting in air

Gave proof through the night

That our flag was still there

Oh say does that Star Spangled Banner still wave

O’er the land of the free

And the home of the brave

The Story of The Star Spangled Banner

The British entered Chesapeake Bay on August 19, 1814 and in just 5 days invaded and captured the young Republic's Capital,

burning down both the Capitol and White House with flames visible 40 miles away in Baltimore next to be attacked.
 

The "war of 1812" was quickly coming to a sad end.  Earlier in 1813 Maj. George Armistead (US)  the commander of Fort McHenry (Baltimore Port)

asked for a flag so big  "the British would have no trouble seeing it from a distance."  

During the attack of Baltimore the townsfolk asked a young 34-year old lawyer-poet attorney, Francis Scott Key, for his assistance

in obtaining the release of the town physician, Dr. William Beanes, who was being held as a prisoner aboard a British ship. 

Mr. Key along with Col. John Skinner, an agent for prisoner exchange, sailed under a flag of truce 3 September.  

Producing a pouch of letters from wounded British prisoners praising their care which Dr. Beanes provided,

they were able to secure his release.

A decisive sea attack was soon to be launched by the British and  the American party was not allowed to return  having seen the enemy's  preparations.

The British began a bombardment of Fort McHenry which lasted 25 hours, firing bombshells weighing as much as 220 pounds.*
 

As the battle ceased on the following morning, Key turned his telescope to the fort and saw that the American flag was still waving.

The sight so inspired him that he pulled a letter from his pocket and began to write the poem which eventually was adopted

as the national anthem of the United States -- "The Star Spangled Banner."

Key was returned to Baltimore and later that day took a room at a Baltimore tavern where he completed the poem.

Years later, Key told a hometown audience in Frederick, Maryland:

“I saw the flag of my country waving over a city -- the strength and pride of my native State

-- a city devoted to plunder and desolation by its assailants. I witnessed the preparation for its assaults.

I saw the array of its enemies as they advanced to the attack.

I heard the sound of battle; the noise of the conflict fell upon my listening ear,

and told me that 'the brave and the free' had met the invaders.”

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¶ OLD GLORY ¶

The Story of Old Glory

This famous name was coined by Captain William Driver, a shipmaster of Salem, Massachusetts, in 1831.

As he was leaving on one of his many voyages aboard the brig CHARLES DOGGETT -

and this one would climax with the rescue of the mutineers of the BOUNTY -

some friends presented him with a beautiful flag of twenty four stars.

As the banner opened to the ocean breeze for the first time, he exclaimed "Old Glory!"

He retired to Nashville in 1837, taking his treasured flag from his sea days with him.

By the time the Civil War erupted, most everyone in and around Nashville recognized Captain Driver's "Old Glory."

When Tennessee seceded from the Union, Rebels were determined to destroy his flag,

but repeated searches revealed no trace of the hated banner.

Then on February 25th, 1862, Union forces captured Nashville and raised the American flag over the capital.

It was a rather small ensign and immediately folks began asking Captain Driver if "Old Glory" still existed.

Happy to have soldiers with him this time, Captain Driver went home and began ripping at the seams of his bedcover.

As the stitches holding the quilt-top to the batting unraveled, the onlookers peered inside and saw the 24-starred original

"Old Glory"!

Captain Driver gently gathered up the flag and returned with the soldiers to the capitol.

Though he was sixty years old, the Captain climbed up to the tower to replace the smaller banner with his beloved flag.

The Sixth Ohio Regiment cheered and saluted - and later adopted the nickname "Old Glory" as their own,

telling and re-telling the story of Captain Driver's devotion to the flag we honor yet today.

Captain Driver's grave is located in the old Nashville City Cemetery,

and is one of three places authorized by act of Congress where the Flag of the United States is flown 24 hours a day.

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¶ STARS AND STRIPES ¶

AND THE ROCKETS RED GLARE

THE BOMBS BURSTING IN AIR

GAVE PROOF THROUGH THE NIGHT

THAT OUR FLAG WAS STILL THERE

OH SAY DOES THAT STAR SPANGLED  BANNER STILL WAVE

O'ER THE LAND OF THE FREE

AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE

THE FIFTY UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

ALABAMA, ALASKA, ARIZONA, ARKANSAS, CALIFORNIA

COLORADO, CONNECTICUT, DELAWARE, FLORIDA, GEORGIA

HAWAII, IDAHO, ILLINOIS, INDIANA, IOWA

KANSAS, KENTUCKY, LOUISIANA, MAINE, MARYLAND

MASSACHUSETTS, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, MISSISSIPPI, MISSOURI

MONTANA, NEBRASKA, NEVADA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NEW JERSEY

NEW MEXICO, NEW YORK, NORTH CAROLINA, NORTH DAKOTA, OHIO

OKLAHOMA, OREGON, PENNSYLVANIA, RHODE ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA

SOUTH DAKOTA, TENNESSEE, TEXAS, UTAH, VERMONT

VIRGINIA, WASHINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA, WISCONSIN, WYOMING

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1966-1971, RVN

Petty Officer Jim Cava

United States Navy Retired

“The Patriotic Voice of America”

Corpsman / 5^th Marines, Vietnam 1968

OPERATION RED, WHITE AND BLUE