Happy Independence Day!!

[Don]

While we all enjoy the cookouts, family gathering and fireworks displays--lets all take a minute to remember our brothers and sister laying their lives on the line, day after day, so that we ALL (meaning EVERYONE living in the USA--no matter what your heritage or beliefs may be) may enjoy all the freedoms of this great country... DON

[Scott]

Happy Independence Day 2007

Rather than start a brand new thread, I thought I would resurrect the one Don started from last year.

This morning, I was part of a sextet of Amare Cantare members who sang the National Anthem at a naturalization ceremony at Strawbery Banke. It was moving to see so many people from so many parts of the world choosing to become United States citizens.

There were also a few dignitaries in attendance, including New Hampshire Governor John Lynch and his wife. By sheer coincidence, I was seated three seats away in the same row as Representative Carol Shea-Porter. I was able to shake her hand and briefly thank her for consponsoring the Cancer Screening, Treatment, and Survivorship Act of 2007!

Happy Independence Day, an idea worth celebrating wherever you live!

[TCLEFT]

Scott,
Did you sing all four stanzas? In honor of the day, I thought I'd share this with everyone. Hope you all enjoy it.
Staystrong,
Mark

Subject: The Star Spangled Banner


>Unless you know all four stanzas of the Star Spangled Banner you may find
>this most interesting. Perhaps most of you didn't realize what Francis
>Scott Key's profession was or what he was doing on a ship. This is a good
>brush-up on your history.
>
>(Editor's Note- Near the end of his life, the great science fiction author
>Isaac Asimov wrote a short story about the four stanzas of our national
>anthem. However brief, this well-circulated piece is an eye opener from
>the dearly departed doctor......)" I have a weakness -- I am crazy, absolutely nuts,
>about our national anthem. The words are difficult and the tune is almost
>impossible, but frequently when I'm taking a shower I sing it with as much
>power and emotion as I can. It shakes me up every time."
>
>NO REFUGE COULD SAVE: BY DR. ISAAC ASIMOV
>
>I was once asked to speak at a luncheon. Taking my life in my hands, I
>announced I was going to sing our national anthem -- all four stanzas.
>This was greeted with loud groans. One man closed the door to the kitchen, where
>the noise of dishes and cutlery was loud and distracting. "Thanks, Herb," I
>said. "That's all right," he said. "It was at the request of the kitchen staff".
>I explained the background of the anthem and then sang all four stanzas.
>Let me tell you, those people had never heard it before -- or had never really
>listened. I got a standing ovation. But it was not me; it was the anthem.
>
>More recently, while conducting a seminar, I told my students the story of
>the anthem and sang all four stanzas. Again there was a wild ovation and
>prolonged applause. And again, it was the anthem and not me.
>
>So now let me tell you how it came to be written.
>
>In 1812, the United States went to war with Great Britiain , primarily
>over freedom of the seas. We were in the right. For two years, we held off the
>British, even though we were still a rather weak country. Great Britain
>was in a life and death struggle with Napoleon. In fact, just as the United States
>declared war, Napoleon marched off to invade Russia . If he won, as
>everyone expected, he would control Europe, and Great Britain would be isolated. It
>was no time for her to be involved in an American war.
>
>At first, our seamen proved better than the British. After we won a battle
>on Lake Erie in 1813, the American commander, Oliver Hazard Perry, sent
>the message, "We have met the enemy and they are ours." However, the weight of
>the British navy beat down our ships eventually. New England , hard-hit by a
>tightening blockade, threatened secession.
>
>Meanwhile, Napoleon was beaten in Russia and in 1814 was forced to
>abdicate. Great Britain now turned its attention to the United States, launching a
>three-pronged attack. The Northern prong was to come down Lake Champlain toward New York and
>seize parts of New England .
>
>The Southern prong was to go up the Mississippi, take New orleans and
>paralyze the west.
>
>The Central prong was to head for the mid-Atlantic states and then attack
>Baltimore, the greatest port south of New York. If Baltimore was taken,
>the nation, which still hugged the Atlantic coast, could be split in two. The
>fate of the United States, then, rested to a large extent on the success or
>failure of the central prong.
>
>The British reached the American coast, and on August 24, 1814, took
>Washington, D.C. Then they moved up the Chesapeake Bay toward Baltimore.
>On September 12, they arrived and found 1,000 men in Fort McHenry , whose
>guns controlled the harbor. If the British wished to take Baltimore, they would
>have to take the fort.
>
>On one of the British ships was an aged physician, William Beanes, who had
>been arrested in Maryland and brought along as a prisoner. Francis Scott
>Key, a lawyer and friend of the physician, had come to the ship to negotiate
>his release.
>
>The British captain was willing, but the two Americans would have to wait.
>It was now the night of September 13, and the bombardment of Fort McHenry
>was about to start.
>
>As twilight deepened, Key and Beanes saw the American flag flying over
>Fort McHenry. Through the night, they heard bombs bursting and saw the red
>glare of rockets. They knew the fort was resisting and the American flag was
>still flying. But toward morning the bombardment ceased, and a dread silence
>fell. Either Fort McHenry had surrendered and the British flag flew above it, or
>the bombardment had failed and the American flag still flew.
>
>As dawn began to brighten the eastern sky, Key and Beanes stared out at
>the fort, trying to see which flag flew over it. He and the physician must
>have asked each other over and over, "Can you see the flag?"
>
>After it was all finished, Key wrote a four stanza poem telling the events
>of the night. Called "The Defense of Fort McHenry," it was published in
>newspapers and swept the nation. Someone noted that the words fit an old
>English tune called, "To Anacreon in Heaven" -- a difficult melody with an
>uncomfortably large vocal range. For obvious reasons, Key's work became
>known as "The Star Spangled Banner," and in 1931 Congress declared it the official
>anthem of the United States.
>
>Now that you know the story, here are the words. Presumably, the old
>doctor is speaking. This is what he asks Key:
>
>Oh! say, can you see, by the dawn's 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 rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
>Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
>Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
>O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
>
>("Ramparts," in case you don't know, are the protective walls or other
>elevations that surround a fort.) The first stanza asks a question. The
>second gives an answer:
>
>On the shore, dimly seen thro' the mist 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 on the stream
>'Tis the star-spangled banner. Oh! long may it wave
>O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
>
>"The towering steep" is again, the ramparts. The bombardment has failed,
>and the British can do nothing more but sail away, their mission a failure. In
>the third stanza I feel Key allows himself to gloat over the American
>triumph. In the aftermath of the bombardment, Key probably was in no mood to act
>otherwise? During World War I when the British were our Staunchest allies,
>this third stanza was not sung. However, I know it, so here it is:
>
>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 washed 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.
>
>(The fourth stanza, a pious hope for the future, should be sung more
>slowly than the other three and with even deeper feeling):
>
>Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
>Between their loved homes and the war's desolation,
>Blest with victory and peace, may the Heaven - rescued land
>Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
>Then conquer we must, for our cause is just,
>And this be our motto --"In God is our trust."
>And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
>O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
>
>I hope you will look at the national anthem with new eyes. Listen to it,
>the next time you have a chance, with new ears. Pay attention to the words and
>don't let them ever take it away ... not even one word of it.

[Fed]

This morning, I was part of a sextet of Amare Cantare members who sang the National Anthem at a naturalization ceremony at Strawbery Banke. I was moving to see so many people from so many parts of the world choosing to become United States citizens.

A little over a year ago, I myself became a naturalized citizen of the United States. I am very grateful for all that the United States has done for me and my family over the course of the last few years. Most of what I have accomplished in both my personal and professional life has happened thanks to the opportunities I have been given here. Every Fourth of July I listen to the Boston Pops concert, and the sheer emotion of listening to the orchestra perform God Bless America, Stars and Stripes Forever, and the 1812 Overture (not to mention the National Anthem, which I proudly sang with my daughter at the Red Sox game last night) is enough to make me teary eyed; but most importantly, it reminds me of how proud I am to be an American. This Country is indeed great, and despite all of our differences, I can sincerely say that I am part of something special and I am glad to be able to celebrate it fervently. Have a Happy Fourth!

[Karen]

I always, always shed tears of pride at "And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there". I never miss a Memorial day ceremony or forget what Memorial Day means. It saddens me when so many adults and kids don't think...or don't care...what so many have sacrificed.

Mark, Thank you for posting that...I have heard all 4 stanzas but never knew what was behind them.

To the guys on this forum who served or are serving...THANK YOU for upholding for our Independence and freedoms. Happy Fourth!

[Scott]

Did you sing all four stanzas?

We didn't today, but thanks for posting the rest of the story!

[Already Bald]

I am a red blooded American, just as proud as they come.
I went to Ground Zero in NYC the other day. My heart "hurt" as I hit my knees and thought about that day. All the emotions came right back.
Thanks Mark.
Happy 4th.
Joe

[mstlyn]

Happy 4th! to a great family!

I know I'm about 1.5 hrs late (depending on your time zone) but hey.