Rosy Glow – July 4, 2014

By

Andrew DeMarco

This past July 4^th our nation celebrated its 238^th birthday while most of the east coast was keeping their eyes on Hurricane Arthur hoping it would not wash out their holiday plans. Since the early part of the day was nasty thanks to Arthur, I looked at the various news networks to get their take on this birthday celebration. One thing that was mentioned on most of the networks was that during this year there are two significant milestones that our country will celebrate.

The first occurred 200 years ago in 1814 as a 35 year old lawyer and amateur poet wrote a poem on the back of an old letter entitled “Defense of Fort McHenry”, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor during the War of 1812. That lawyer was Francis Scott Key and that poem was later set to music. Ironically the music was from a song “The Anacreontic Song” which was written for a British men’s social club and later became known as “The Star-Spangled Banner.”  It wasn’t until 1931 some 117 years later, through an act of Congress and President Herbert Hoover’s signature that it became our National Anthem.

While we are all familiar with the National Anthem, what many do not know is that Key’s poem consists of four stanzas or in the case of the song verses. Each verse ended with, “o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” But it is in the final verse that most historians agree that one of our nations mottos is first used “In God is Our Trust” which became “In God We Trust.”  To see all of the lyrics click on the link below.

http://www.usa-flag-site.org/song-lyrics/star-spangled-banner.shtml

The second milestone which all of the news channels seemed to be mentioning was the 75^th anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s Luckiest man speech in front of a sold out crowd at Yankee Stadium and which has been called “baseball’s Gettysburg Address” for its brevity and yet a speech which is long remembered.

Henry Louis Gehrig was born in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, and his parents Heinrich and Christina were German immigrants. Lou was the only one of their four children that survived into adulthood, albeit only to the age of 38 just a few weeks shy of his 39^th birthday. He died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which is now called Lou Gehrig’s disease.  He was pushed by his mother to get an education but due to his athletic ability the Yankees came calling and rest is as they say history.

I admit that I did learn a few things doing my research and from these shows. I knew there where additional verses to the National Anthem but not how many and I did not know about “In God is Our Trust.”  I also learned that Lou Gehrig had three siblings. So with my history lesson complete thanks to the news networks, I watched as they interviewed various people on what the United States and the 238^th birthday meant to them. From actors to athletes to the average Joe on the street the answers were always pretty much the same. Most replied that liberty, freedom and the ability to not be limited in your goals and aspirations were what made the United States what it is. Others spoke of the greatness of the country as a leader of the world and one that other countries should strive to be like.

What I found amazing was how glowingly and rosy everyone spoke about this country, and how these same people might have a different opinion if it were not the 4^th of July. Why do we show our patriotism only on holidays? If this country is as great as they were all saying shouldn’t we be proud every day? I know at times we can all become frustrated with the workings of our government, but what we should all realize is that there is no other country like ours on this planet.

So next time any of us are tempted to put down this great nation that we live in maybe we should just take a moment and step back and give it some additional thought. Maybe we should think how Francis Scott Key felt when he saw that flag still flying over Ft. McHenry after an all-night battle and how it inspired him to write what would become our National Anthem. Or maybe what Lou Gehrig actually was thinking when he said he was the luckiest man on the face of the earth. Maybe he was thinking that in addition to all the love and adulation those fans were showing him, that maybe he was lucky for being born in this country. A country that allowed him to follow his dreams, contrary to his mother’s wishes, and how we should follow our dreams and be proud Americans every day and that should fill us all with that feeling that Cousin Bob would call that …… Rosy Glow.