"Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it 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!
That always chokes me up a bit.
Allow me to submit my own feeble musical attempt to pay tribute to our flag, our fighting troops, and our "One Nation, Under God"...though it's not even in the same solar system as the wonderful patriotic songs and hymns others have written over the years.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
I believe the audio of the first youtube link were made by Jan Mickelson and a tech guy (unsure of his name). Jan is a talk show Host on WHO out of Des Moines. He used to play this years ago on his show.. They combined existing recordings he had collected and mixed them together for this project.
Fourth verse is my favorite too.