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Bruce59
06-09-10, 09:03 AM
Watch this former Marine sing the second part to the Star Spangled
Banner. Watch as he starts to sing, people start to realize it is the
Nation Anthem and start to stand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V2KSv0OTkc

yanacek
06-09-10, 09:19 AM
Wonderful. This gentleman did a pretty good job. Better than most "entertainers" of today.

The Star Spangled Banner was originally written as a poem entitled "The Defense of Fort McHenry" and has four verses:

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists 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: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

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 wash'd out their foul footsteps' 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.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us as a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

kenrobg30
06-09-10, 09:43 AM
Thank you Top. I knew it had two, (The first and the last.) If I ever knew about the other two, I'm ashamed to say, I forgot them. No matter how many times I hear it, I still get that lump in the throat, just as I do when I hear Sempre Fidelis, The hymn or the March. :flag: S/F!!! Ken

yanacek
06-09-10, 10:14 AM
Thank you Top. I knew it had two, (The first and the last.) If I ever knew about the other two, I'm ashamed to say, I forgot them. No matter how many times I hear it, I still get that lump in the throat, just as I do when I hear Sempre Fidelis, The hymn or the March. :flag: S/F!!! Ken

Actually brother, most people have never heard the 2nd and 3rd verses. I've never heard them sung. The 3rd verse is a slam against the British so it's no longer politically correct.

Ever since I was in grade school I was always fascinated by the whole story behind the "Star Spangled Banner." A few years ago I wrote an article for a friend about it and my personal pilgrimage to see the actual flag. If anyone is interested in it and some really interesting facts, you can read it here: http://www.obxmarines.com/usap.html

DocGreek
06-09-10, 10:31 AM
Is it true that Francis Scott Key wrote that poem while a prisoner on a British ship, overlooking Ft. McHenry? HE, was a TRUE AMERICAN.....EH?.....:flag:

yanacek
06-09-10, 10:45 AM
Is it true that Francis Scott Key wrote that poem while a prisoner on a British ship, overlooking Ft. McHenry? HE, was a TRUE AMERICAN.....EH?.....:flag:

Key was not technically a prisoner of the British. He had gone to the British to secure the parole of one of his friends. He was successful in his quest, however since he had seen details of the British attacking force, he was held until after the attack.