June 14 is a special day and a special birthday that all Americans should celebrate. Flag Day is the birthday of the flag of our country. On June 14, 1777 the second Continental Congress adopted the flag of the United States of America.
Flag Day is not an official national holiday and only one state, Pennsylvania, observes Flag Day as a state holiday. The first flag birthday was celebrated on June 14, 1885 by schoolteacher B. J. Cigrand in an elementary school in Fredonia, Wisconsin. In numerous magazines, newspaper articles and public addresses for years to come, Cigrand continued to advocate the observance of June 14 as “flag birthday” or Flag Day. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed June 14 as Flag Day. Still it wasn't until many years later, on August 3, 1949, that June 14 became known as National Flag Day when President Harry S Truman signed an act of Congress.
On June 14, 1908, while dining just outside of Philadelphia, Theodore Roosevelt noticed a man wiping his nose with what he thought was an American flag. In outrage, Roosevelt picked up a small wooden rod and began to beat the man for defacing the symbol of America. After about five or six whacks, he noticed that the man was not wiping his nose with the flag, but with a blue handkerchief with white stars. Once Roosevelt realized this he apologized to the man and then hit him once more for making him “Riled with National Pride.”
In her 234 years of history, Old Glory has seen the world and beyond. One memory I have from the history books is a picture of Francis Scott key looking at Fort McHenry while the British bombarded the Fort. He was very anxious all through the night and when morning came and the American flag was still standing he wrote the Star-Spangled Banner. The original title was Defence of Fort M’Henry” and was sung to an old English drinking song.
The next picture I remember of Old Glory is of the five Marines and one Navy corpsman raising the flag on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. This photograph is one of the most significant and recognizable images from World War II. It is probably the most reproduced picture of all time.
Growing up in the 1960s I witnessed Old Glory at her highs and her lows. I recall the images of anti-war protesters burning the flag and doing other vile things to her at these demonstrations. I love America and I was saddened by these things and couldn't understand why people were burning our flag. Where was Teddy Roosevelt when you needed him?
On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. I remember being excused from school and the flag being lowered to half staff. For the next couple of days, all the TV stations showed the President's flag draped casket in the Capitol Rotunda. Thousands, if not millions of people filed past the casket to pay their last respects to the late President. I remember the President being carried out of the Capitol building and being placed on the same horse drawn wagon as Abraham Lincoln many years earlier. My family and I were glued to the TV as we watched the procession to Arlington National Cemetery. They will reach the President's final resting spot, Old Glory was removed from the casket, folded, and presented to Mrs. Kennedy. This is the saddest memory I have of our flag.
In 1969, the Stars and Stripes regained her glory. On July 20, 1969 Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. I remember watching this on television when Neil Armstrong said those famous words, “That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Before Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong left the Moon they planted the flag on the surface. America won the race to the Moon. What a great accomplishment for America and Old Glory.
At a baseball game at Dodger Stadium in the 1970s, two young men ran out to centerfield with matches and lighter fluid and tried to burn the American flag. When Cubs player, Rick Monday, saw what they were trying to do, he ran from his position in the outfield and grabbed Old Glory away from them before it started on fire. This was a great show of patriotism and some people say that it is “the greatest catch in baseball history.”
Finally, I will never forget the photograph by Thomas Franklin taken on 9/11 that captured an unforgettable image of hope. Three firefighters raising the American flag. Standing defiantly against the gray and white landscape of devastation, these dust covered men and the vivid red, white and blue of Old Glory instantly became a symbol of American patriotism. This photo also sent a global message that life and America would go on.
Our flag means different things to different people. To some it is hope for freedom. To others it is a threat or a symbol of democracy they cannot tolerate. To me this is a symbol of the greatest country on Earth. The land of the free and the home of the brave. As she is grown older, Old Glory has seen the good and the bad. She has seen the four corners of the world and has ventured into outer space. She has been shot at, spat on, stepped on, torn, and burned. Yet she still waves proudly wherever she goes. So as we approach Flag Day and Fourth of July, I ask you to pause for a moment especially on her 234th birthday, when you see Old Glory and think about what she means to you, and wish her a happy birthday.
Give something of yourself to people every day… Smile and watch the magic happen.
