Saturday, March 27, 2010

GOD BLESS AMERICA



(AUTHOR’S NOTE: I wrote this article In celebration of the U.S. Independence Day on July 4, 2006 for the July issue of a certain periodical. I knew then that it would be after July 4th that people would get to read it; hence, the reference to this in the first paragraph of the article. Also, the pictures that accompanied the published article are not reproduced here.) Hope you enjoy and learn a thing or two about the history of our beloved country. HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!)


GOD BLESS AMERICA
Land Of The Free, Home Of The Brave

By the time you read this article, July 4th celebration will have passed, and you have had your banquets, your picnics, your outdoor barbecues, and the fireworks displays. And now that the dust of the July 4th festivities had settled, next time you celebrate this holiday, consider the following historical facts and trivia.

America derived its name from Amerigo Verpucci, the inconsequential Italian explorer who studied under Michaelangelo. His first expedition in 1499 led him to the coast of South America. In 1501, he was the first to identify the New World of North and South America as separate from Asia. His third voyage to the New World was his last for he contracted malaria and died in Spain in 1512 at the age of 58.

The Bald Eagle, from the Latin word aguila, is the national bird of the United States. Bald really means “white,” in this instance, not “hairless.” Benjamin Franklin thought the turkey was a better symbol for the national bird.

The Star Spangled Banner was written by Francis Scott Key, an American lawyer and amateur poet. It was originally titled The Defence of Fort McHenry. By a Congressional resolution signed by President Herbert Hoover, it was adopted as the American National Anthem in 1931.

China invented the fireworks. The first July 4th celebration in 1777 included fireworks.

The word barbecue derived from the Arawak or Haitian barbacoa — a word for a wooden framework for drying meat or for cooking meat over fire.

The word picnic derived from the French word pique-nique. Picnics started out as social occasions to which the participants brought comestibles.

The U.S. Independence Day marks the end of the American Revolutionary War of 1775, and the end of America’s rule by the British Monarchy. Great Britain did not recognize the colonies’ independence until the 1783 Treaty of Paris. But it took Congress 165 years (in 1941) to establish July 4th as a legal holiday.

Although Thomas Jefferson did the final working draft of the Declaration of Independence, he was not the originator of the Declaration. Thomas Paine was. Jefferson was given full credit for the Declaration, while Paine who had advocated the ideas behind the Revolution and the end of slavery, died a poor, broken and despised man.

The single, most defining symbol of the United States is the Stars and Stripes. It started with 13 stars representing the original 13 colonies, and evolved to 50 stars that represent the 50 States. The last States to be admitted were Alaska in 1959, and Hawaii in 1960.

To this day, the origin of the Flag cannot be determined with absolute certainty. Although many historians say that Congressman Francis Hopkinson was commissioned by Congress to design (and maybe make) the Flag, Betsy Ross, the Philadelphia seamstress and close friend of George Washington, continues to be credited as having made the first one.

The three colors used in the flag represent: Red–for the blood shed in becoming an independent nation; Blue, for the oceans that were crossed to reach the New World, and White–for purity and innocence. When stored, the flag is folded in a triangular shape, to represent the tri-cornered hats worn by the settlers at the time of its creation.

The term OLD GLORY was coined when shipmaster Captain William Driver was presented with the Flag with 24 stars during one of his voyages that climaxed the rescue of the mutineers of the Bounty in 1831. As the banner opened to the ocean breeze, he exclaimed “Old Glory!”

The Flag is a living symbol of the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights that uniquely symbolizes freedom, liberty and justice for all. However, around the world, and sometimes, even here on U.S. soil, desecration of the Flag is the popular means to show contempt to the United States and its policies. Protesters deface and burn it, trample and spit on it, or affix protest stickers on it like the swastika below.

Recently this year, illegal aliens from Mexico seized control of a high school flagpole during the nationwide demonstrations protesting, among other things, the move in Congress to reform the immigration law. The protesters turned the American Flag upside down, and hoisted their Mexican flag above the Stars and Stripes.

During the Vietnam War, protesters shocked the country when they started burning American flags during their demonstrations at Central Park. Congress reacted by passing the Federal Flag Desecration Law. A year later, the Supreme Court Ruled that flag desecration is protected by the Constitution. Through the years, Congress has made many futile attempts to overrule the U.S. Supreme Court by proposing a constitutional amendment banning flag desecration.

As our heroes continue to die in the name of freedom and liberty for all, we continue to protect the right of those who desecrate the American emblem. One of the bloggers on historychannel.com wrote: “It’s just a piece of cloth. What’s the big deal?” It’s just a piece of cloth? When I look at the Flag, I do not see the fabric or material from which it was made; I look at the symbol it represents for all humanity: freedom, liberty and justice for all.

When husbands and wives disagree on some issues, do they spit or trample on their wedding rings, or worse, burn it? Maybe somewhere in this world, someone has done it, but I’ve never heard of it. In the movies I’ve seen an actor throw his wedding ring away after a breakup with his wife, but that’s fiction. The ring is made generally of metal, and maybe adorned with some precious jewels, but it’s more than that: it’s the symbol of love and the sanctity of marriage–till death do us part. And because of this, we cherish it and give it the utmost respect.

I’ve never served in the Military but I fully appreciate the sacrifices that the men and women of the U.S. Armed forces have made to protect the American Flag and all that it stands for. I salute the U.S. soldiers for they were the ones who fought and died to give us this nation, and it will always be the soldiers who give up their lives willingly so we can continue to have the freedom and liberty that we enjoy as Americans.

God Bless Our Heroes “He knew the cost of freedom and that it was not free, and he volunteered to go to Iraq anyway.” — A quote from Washington Post by Margaret Johnson, mother of fallen Army Captain Christopher Johnson

To quote Master Sergeant John Ubaldi, a U.S. Marine Reservist who served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, “On this Fourth of July let’s celebrate the principles of what this nation stands for: that freedom belongs to all mankind, and let’s help lift the weight of tyranny so all mankind may enjoy the fruits of freedom. The revolution that started on July 4th 1776 sparked a desire in the hearts of men that man is destined to be free as our creator intended not to be enslaved, but free! Lets spread that same freedom to others or someday our own freedom will be in jeopardy! Lets stand for freedom for all!” (Ubaldi is the founder of Move America Forward.

(For the complete text of his message, please visit moveamericaforward.org. To shorten this piece, I’ve deleted three paragraphs about a personal friend’s service in Iraq: Commander DON BAILEY, of the U.S. Navy, Al Asad AB, Iraq.)

The American Dream There are many political, social and personal reasons not to love the French now-a-days, but when we think of liberty, we think of the Statue of Liberty — the French’s greatest gift to the United States. And it would become one of the most famous monuments of world history and the symbol of the American Dream.

French architect, Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, was known for his devotion to sculpting monumental sculpture, specifically, large-scale pieces of heroic accomplishments. In 1865, he conceived the idea of France giving the United States a monument for its Centennial of 1876. Many believed that he used his mother, Charlotte Bartholdi, as his model for the statue. In 1879, he acquired US Patent #11,023 for a design of a statue named “Liberty Enlightening the World.” It was later named “The Statue of Liberty.” On October 28, 1886, President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty in front of thousands of spectators. (The colossal figure is the tallest metal statue ever constructed, and at the time, it was the tallest structure in all of New York.)

America was founded on immigration and for hundreds of years, countless people have died in pursuit of liberty into the New World, and the realization of the American Dream. To this day, even though the United States may be the most hated country in the world, people from all over still will do anything and everything, even risk their lives, to come to this country–legally or illegally. There are now about 12 million illegal aliens who live in this country, and immigration is one of the most sensitive issues facing the country today.

In closing, let me quote a passage from one of the poems of Emma Lazarus, which is also engraved on a bronze plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

END

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