Sunday, June 14 is Flag Day. Flag Day commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777, by resolution of the Second Continental Congress. It is also the birthday of the U.S. Army which was adopted by Congress after reaching a consensus position in the Committee of the Whole on June 14, 1775. Flag Day was first proclaimed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916 and established by an Act of Congress in 1949.
The Crookston American Legion Auxiliary submitted two historical writings in honor of flag day – “Hello, Remember Me?” and “I am Your Flag”. The two pieces are written from the perspective of Old Glory.
HELLO, REMEMBER ME?
Some people call me Old Glory, others call me the Star Spangled Banner, but whatever they call me, I am your Flag, the Flag of the United States of America. Something has been bothering me, so I thought I might talk it over with you, because it is about you and me.
I remember some time ago people lined up on both sides of the street to watch the parade and naturally I was leading every parade, proudly waving in the breeze. When your daddy saw me coming, he immediately removed his hat and placed it against his left shoulder so that the hand was directly over his heart. Remember?
And you, I remember you. Standing there, straight as a soldier. You didn’t have a hat, but you were giving the right salute. Remember little sister? Not to be outdone, she was saluting the same as you with her right hand over her heart. Remember?
What happened? I’m still the same old flag. Oh, I may have a few more Stars since you were a boy. A lot more blood has been shed since those parades of long ago.
But now I don’t feel as proud as I used to. When I come down your street, you just sand there with your hands in your pockets. I may get a small glance and then you look away. Then I see the children running around and shouting; they don’t seem to know who I am. I saw one man take his hat off, then look around. He didn’t see anybody else with theirs off so he quickly put his back on.
Is it a sin to be patriotic any more? Have you forgotten what I stand for and where I’ve been? Europe, Anzio, Guadalcanal, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. Take a look at the Memorial Honor Rolls sometimes, of those who never came back to keep this Republic free. One Nation Under God, when you salute me, you are saluting them. Well, it won’t be long until I’ll be coming down your street again. So, when you see me, stand straight, place your right hand over your heart and should you be a veteran render a military salute and I’ll salute you, by waving back, and I’ll know that YOU REMEMBERED!
I AM YOU FLAG
Traditionalists say I was born of a woman’s hand…fashioned from bits of cloth by a seamstress in Philadelphia a year after the new country was born.
Historians are less certain of my origin. Yet, no one doubts my existence. I was created out of necessity to serve as the emblem of a people whose experiment in nationhood was as unique as the arrangement of my stars and stripes.
I have proven my adaptability to change. I’ve accommodated growth. I’ve stood up to time and troubles. I fluttered in the fall air with General Washington and his loyal French allies at Yorktown. My fabric was shredded by cannonballs from British frigates in the War of 1812, and I was carried in triumph by Andy Jackson at New Orleans. The British could see me clearly in the mists of “the dawn’s early light” waving from the standards of Fort McHenry.
I’ve witnessed turmoil and bitterness, even lost some of my glory in mid-century in a war between brothers, but I was restored as a Nation’s emblem at Appomattox.
I traveled West with new frontiers. I flew from the headlamps of the Iron Horse in Utah. I was with the prospectors at Sutter’s Mill, and with the Rough Riders at San Juan Hill.
I crossed the Marne with the doughboys anxious to make the world safe for democracy. I was raised over a shell-pocketed hilltop at Iwo Jima, and I stood by grim-faced negotiators at Panmunjom. I was on the last helicopter from Saigon.
I have been around in victory and defeat. I’ve seen pain and pleasure. I’ve been folded smartly by soldiers and handed gently to weeping widows. I’ve covered the coffins of those who’ve served country and community. But I’ve also decorated bandstands and concert halls. I am saluted to in parades, in schools, and at ball parks.
I’ve felt the heat of the tropics, the cold of the frozen north and the searing sands of the “Desert Storm.” I’ve flown proudly as food is distributed to the less fortunate and cried tears of shame that caused my red, white, and blue to run together as I was spat upon, trampled in the ground and burned before a mocking crowd.
I am a part of political campaigns, high holidays and ice cream socials. I fly from skyscrapers and bungalows, I’ve been to the moon and the ocean floor.
So, I am everywhere my people are. Saluted, scorned, held with pride, ridiculed because I am everything my people are: proud, angry, happy, sad, vengeful, argumentative, ambitious, and indifferent.
I was created to serve a people in struggle and a government in change. There are now more stars in my blue field than there were in the beginning and if need be, there’s room for more.
But this I promise, those red and white stripes will remain in the future as I have kept them in the past, always clearly visible through whatever struggle I am put through. I will always remain a symbol of “The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.”
I am your past. I am your future. I am your flag.
