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| The Star Spangled Banner Flying over Ft. McHenry During the Annual Defenders' Day Fireworks |
Because we hear the Anthem so
frequently, at sporting events, parades and many similar activities, we often
overlook the meaning of the song. And,
because we usually only sing the first verse, I believe we miss out on some
important and inspired ideas hidden in the later verses. Those are the things I plan to speak on
today, but first I’d like to present a little background.
We fought the War of 1812 with
Great Britain over several issues that had not been fully settled during the
Revolutionary War. Some contributing
factors were American sailors being forced to serve in the British Navy,
various trade disagreements, and boundary disputes with British-controlled
Canada. When the war started, Britain
was fighting Napoleon’s forces in Spain, so they were unable to commit all
their strength to fight their former colonies.
But, the Americans were not fully prepared to fight either, so the war
sputtered on in small engagements for the first two years. In 1814, however, the British defeated Napoleon
and began sending greater forces to the fight against America.
Part of the British strategy for
compelling America to accept a truce included a land invasion of Washington DC,
and they were successful in looting and burning the capitol while government
leaders fled to Maryland. Their next
target was the busy port city of Baltimore, about 40 miles north of
Washington. As British ground troops
advanced from the south, a naval flotilla sailed up Chesapeake Bay to provide
artillery support for the invasion.
During these actions, the British arrested a prominent local physician,
Doctor Beanes, whom they believed was harassing their soldiers. When it became known the British were holding
Dr. Beanes prisoner aboard one of their ships in Chesapeake Bay, his friend, an
attorney named Francis Scott Key, sought permission from President Madison to
meet with the British officers and try to arrange for Dr. Beanes’ release.
Key and a prisoner exchange agent
took a small sloop and sailed down the bay to meet up with the British ship
where Beanes was being held. The ship’s
officers were cordial, and eventually they agreed to release Dr. Beanes. The Americans were returned to their boat,
but because they had overheard British plans for the attack on Baltimore, they
were placed under guard, their sails were removed and their boat was towed
along with the British ship toward Baltimore.
On September 13th, 1814, the
British began firing on Fort Mc Henry, which defended Baltimore Harbor. The British soon learned that their guns had
greater range than those of the fort, so they retreated far enough out in the
harbor that they could continue their barrage without fear of any return
fire. The British ground troops
encountered a significant force along the southern defenses of the city, and
they were unable to advance, but the ships continued firing through the evening
and late into the night.
This brings us to the flag. At the time of the attack, Fort McHenry
usually flew one of two American flags, a smaller storm flag, and a much larger
version for use when weather conditions permitted. Both of these followed what was then the standard
pattern of fifteen stars and fifteen stripes.
It was the storm flag that flew from the mast during the night, and as
Key and his friends watched the battle from the harbor, this was the one they
“hailed at the twilight's last gleaming.”
And, until the shelling stopped, this was the one they could still see
because of the “rockets' red glare [and] bombs bursting in air.”
When the fort’s defenders realized
the next morning that they had largely withstood the barrage, the commander
ordered that the larger display flag be hoisted up the mast to ensure the
British knew they had not been successful in destroying the fort. From Key’s vantage, the smoke from the
night’s cannon and rocket fire still obscured the fort.
As the breeze began to clear away the smoke that morning, September
14th, 1814, exactly two hundred years ago today, he could see that larger flag
“catch[ing] the gleam of the morning’s first beam, [its] full glory reflected .
. . shin[ing] on the stream.”
Being an amateur poet, Francis
Scott Key began scribbling the first few lines of a poem on the back of a
letter to capture his emotions during the “perilous fight” and again at the
“dawn’s early light.” He completed the
poem later, after the British gave up on their planned invasion and after they
released Key and his friends to return to Baltimore. He entitled his poem “The Defense of Ft.
McHenry” and showed it to his brother-in-law, who liked it so much he had it
published for distribution in Baltimore.
The poem fit the tune of an existing song, and soon the words and
suggested tune were printed in newspapers up and down the Atlantic
Seaboard. It became one of many
standard patriotic tunes, but it took over a century for it to be formally
adopted as our National Anthem in 1931.
Of course, if you’ve heard the
Star-Spangled Banner sung at more than a few baseball or hockey games, you know
that it can be very difficult to sing.
Sometimes even talented singers struggle with it because of its wide
range. That’s why some have humorously suggested
that the poem and tune were first put together during the “perilous
fight”, and that hearing it sung the first time was what actually caused the
British to retreat in fear from Baltimore!
Ultimately, the flag that Francis
Scott Key wrote about, and the updated version that we visualize when we sing
his song today, are only pieces of fabric.
They can be torn or faded or soiled, and finally burned. But flags can mean much more when we attach a
specific meaning to them. Sometimes, the
image on a flag by itself conveys that flag’s meaning to those who see it. Other times, that deeper meaning can be
assigned to a flag through a poem, pledge or anthem that we associate with
it. For instance, when we say our Pledge
of Allegiance, we swear loyalty to the flag as a symbol of our Republic and of
liberty and justice.
Another flag we know about was
Captain Moroni’s “Title of Liberty” that we read about in Alma 46:12. As leader of the Nephite armies,
Captain Moroni became angered when he learned of a rebellion among his people
by a political faction that sought to take away their freedom. To overthrow the rebellion, he knew he would
need the assistance of as many able bodied citizens as he could gather on his
march back to the capitol of Zarahemla.
To call them to arms, he also created a flag, one even simpler than our
stars and stripes – his own coat. He
didn’t have time to write a song about it, so he wrote directly on it the
words, “In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our
wives, and our children.” This banner
helped him inspire strong feelings of patriotism and love of family and freedom
among his fellow citizens, and copies of it soon flew above their
fortifications during the ensuing war with the rebellious Nephite faction.
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| Marching With the Title of Liberty - A Sacred Covenant |
To Moroni, marching behind the
Title of Liberty constituted a sacred covenant with God. As he recruited patriots to his cause, he
challenged them with these words:
“Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come
forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will
maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.” (Alma 46:20)
It’s the final verse of his poem
that I find to be the most powerful.
Here, Key looks forward to future conflicts, hoping they would end with
the same result. “Oh, thus be it ever,
when free men 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!” In essence, this
verse is a prayer that Heavenly Father will always bless us with victory and
peace. But, just like Captain Moroni in
his day, Key also recognized in the following stanza that those blessings would
only come to a righteous nation, “Then conquer we must, when our cause it is
just,” and when this is, “our motto: ‘In God is our trust!’”
So fast forward to today; we’re
fighting more wars than we can even count.
Some are military, some are political and even more are social in nature. And, of course, each side believes their
cause is just. For me, and I think for
many of us, it can difficult to know which side is right. When we look to our living prophet, President
Monson, and other church leaders for guidance, we can know where Heavenly
Father wants us to stand. For some of
these conflicts there’s no question, and our leaders will emphatically plead
with us to join them in standing up for what is right. But, the Lord is also silent on many divisive
issues, which to me indicates these may be battles we don’t need to fight, and
more of our energy should be focused on the wars that must be won.
The most important and hazardous
conflict we face today is the War on Sin, against the power and influence of
Satan. On this battlefront, there’s no
question we are under attack as a society, as a church, as families, as
individuals, and we must defend ourselves.
Like many fortifications, including Fort McHenry, where military
engineers construct multiple lines of defense, we have enjoyed the protection
of outer walls for many years. Laws,
moral codes and societal norms have kept most evil influences at bay, but over
time these have all proven ineffective and the barbarians are now at the gate
of our inner sanctuaries. In many
instances, the Church and our homes are the only defenses we have left.
So, what do we need to do to keep
our families and freedoms safe?
The old adage that there's safety
in numbers certainly applies when it comes to the Church. We know that by following the Savior's true
gospel, which is found here in His church, we can fend off many of Satan's
attacks. It is only here in Christ's
true Church where we can find the full teachings of His gospel, His true
priesthood power, and His appointed prophets and other leaders. As we gather together to teach each other the
gospel, bear our testimonies, and encourage each other to live by gospel
precepts, we can stay safe. I know I've
mentioned this to many of you, but the Duportail Ward actually gets its name
from Louis Duportail, a Frenchman who served as the Chief Military Engineer of
the Continental Army during the American Revolution. (In Richland, many LDS wards are named for prominent streets within their boundaries. Having been constructed by the US Army Corps of Engineers during the Cold War, most of Richland's streets were named for important US military engineers.) Duportail designed many of the fortifications
used by the American colonists to wear down the superior strength of the
British during those battles. So, I
think it's fitting that for members of the Duportail Ward, our ward family can be an effective defense
against Satan.
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| Our home as a fortress - flying our very own 15-star, 15-stripe version of Old Glory |
"Our fortress
consists of teaching our children the gospel through the scriptures,
establishing the habit of reading them every day as a family, and basing a
large part of our conversations on them. It means kneeling together daily to
pray and to teach our children the importance of direct, personal communication
with our Heavenly Father.
"Our fortress
is erected by showing our children, through our example, that the principles
and teachings of the gospel are a way of life which helps us find peace and
happiness on this earth and provides the strength necessary to withstand the
trials and tribulations that come into our lives."
And, as we strive to live
righteously, we will be a strength and support to our neighbors and
countrymen. On his deathbed, the prophet
Lehi gave this blessing to his son Joseph:
"may the Lord consecrate also unto thee this land, which is a most
precious land, for thine inheritance and the inheritance of thy seed with thy
brethren, for thy security forever, if it so be that ye shall keep the
commandments of the Holy One of Israel."
Later, Lehi’s son Jacob taught his brethren that, “this land, said God,
shall be a land of thine inheritance, and the Gentiles shall be blessed upon
the land. And this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there
shall be no kings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles. And I will fortify this land against all
other nations.” But again, these
blessings would only come when the people were obedient.
Likewise, in the Book of Alma, Amulek
taught his unrighteous neighbors that, "were [it] not for the prayers of
the righteous, who are now in the land . . . ye would even now be visited with
utter destruction . . . by famine, and by pestilence, and the sword. But it is by the prayers of the righteous
that ye are spared . . .” (Alma 10:22). Through our prayers and the example we set, we have
the opportunity and responsibility to bless our fellow citizens with security
and freedom.
We use a lot of symbols in the
Church to remind us of our Savior and the blessings he has in store for
us. A couple examples I think of are the
Sacrament, which reminds us of Christ’s Atonement, and our temples, which remind
us of the eternal nature of our lives and families. Because of the great blessings we enjoy
because of our freedoms, I think we should view our nation’s flag with the same
level of respect and reverence.
I had the chance several years ago
to visit Fort McHenry early on a Sunday morning, and to participate in the
daily flag ceremony there. As directed
by law, Fort McHenry flies a small storm flag, also one with fifteen stars and
fifteen stripes, overnight every night, and then brings it down each morning to
be replaced with a larger example. I was
able to help bring the storm flag down, hold it in my arms while waiting for
others to raise the daytime flag, and then I was able to help fold it
appropriately and hand it back to the Park Ranger. For me, this was an extremely spiritual experience. I felt many of the same feelings of gratitude
and reverence as I have when visiting Church history sites or attending the
temple.
Before I close, we should also
remember that there are many lands around the world whose citizens enjoy many
of the same freedoms we do here in America.
I think it's important to recognize that as blessed as we are here,
Heavenly Father is no respecter of persons, and he will always bless the
righteous, no matter where they live. We
should respect that, to those living in other nations, their flags can
represent the same ideals of freedom and peace to them.
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| With The Star Spangled Banner at Fort McHenry - August 1996 |
So, the next time we fly our flags
on national holidays, when we see one passing in a parade, and any time we sing
or hear The Star-Spangled Banner, I hope we will take a moment to remember the
ultimate source of our freedoms, our Heavenly Father. And, that we can remember His Son who gave
his life not just for his country, but for all of us, His brothers and sisters. And I hope that we will remember to raise our
own spiritual flags - our testimonies and obedient examples - for all to see,
that our friends and neighbors will also be reminded to Whom they can look for
true freedom.
When we finally come to recognize,
as a nation and as individuals that Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ,
are the true source of our freedoms, only then can we truly expect that, “the Star
Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave, o’er the Land of the Free, and the Home
of the Brave.”
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
