“Symbol of Freedom and Faith”
 July 4, 2004

  Given by Lloyd Newell

Beginning in 1793, England and France were intent on crushing each other. For over 20 years they fought a war over territories staked out by both sides during the previous 200 years. The Americans, having won their independence only recently, entered the war in 1812 after many of their merchant ships had been confiscated or destroyed by the British.

At first the Americans were only an annoyance to the British, who were preoccupied with Napoleon. But with the British victory over France in 1814, England’s intent was to give the Americans “a complete drubbing” and to burn Washington. Five thousand British army and navy veterans sailed up the Chesapeake Bay, earned a quick victory at the battle of Bladensburg, and went on to their next target, Baltimore.

The key to victory was Fort McHenry, a star-shaped bastion overlooking the harbor. Before the battle began, a young Washington lawyer named Francis Scott Key set sail on a prisoner exchange ship to arrange the release of a friend held by the British. The release was granted, but because of the impending British attack on Baltimore, the ship was not allowed to return to shore. From this helpless position Francis Scott Key witnessed the long bombardment of Fort McHenry. All through the night explosions rained down on the fort. But in the morning, a defiant flag still flew in the smoke-laden air. The sight was so inspiring that Francis wrote a poem about it, which later became “The Star Spangled Banner.”

The sight of the flag waving gallantly that morning inspired more than Francis Scott Key. The Americans rallied to defeat the British invasion, not only at Fort McHenry, but also later in New Orleans. The British eventually went home, and America earned its stripes in the first real test of independence. The flag became more than a symbol of unity; it became the banner of courage and a remembrance of those who sacrificed their lives to preserve our freedoms. Over the years the stars

and stripes have been immortalized in subsequent battles for freedom. The flag appeared at the Treaty of Versailles when the First World War ended, on a rocky rise on the tiny island of Iwo Jima, sewn inside a POW’s coat at the Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War, and flying over the wreckage of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

We believe this land that we live in has been blessed—as the last verse of “The Star Spangled Banner” reminds us:

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!”¹

1. Hymns, no. 340.

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