Forward Operating Base Repeats History (Fort McHenry on Independence Day)

Defend America News ^ | Spc. Cassandra Groce

[SandRat]

Soldiers from Forward Operating Base McHenry, Iraq, pose with the Star Spangled replica flying in the background. The photograph, and the flag will be displayed at the visitor's center at Fort McHenry, Maryland. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Cassandra Groce Hi-Res
Forward Operating Base Repeats History
Soldiers at Forward Operating Base McHenry withstand daily bombardments as their namesake once did.
By U.S. Army Spc. Cassandra Groce 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detach HAWIJA, Iraq, July 3, 2006 -- In 1814, during the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key penned the poem that would be adopted as our country’s national anthem in 1931. "We always look back to our heritage and our traditions, and I think that history has a tendency of repeating itself. At Fort McHenry they were protecting their country and themselves, just like Forward Operating Base McHenry is here." Command Sgt. Maj. David Allard From the deck of a U.S. truce ship, Key watched as Fort McHenry was bombarded all night by attacking British troops. Almost 200 years later, soldiers at Forward Operating Base McHenry withstand daily bombardments from anti-Iraqi forces. The irony was not lost on Command Sgt. Maj. David Allard of 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team. Allard contacted the personnel at Fort McHenry, Maryland via email. “I was doing a little research on Fort McHenry, and thought it would be a great opportunity to share a little history from over here with you in the United States,” wrote Allard. “As Francis Scott Key witnessed the attacks on Fort McHenry, we have also witnessed first hand the rocketing and mortaring of our base.”	The frequent correspondence with Chief Ranger Vincent Vaise, eventually led to two 15-star, 15-stripe flags (replicas of the “Star-Spangled Banner” that Key wrote about) being shipped to Forward Operating Base McHenry. The two flags were flown over the base in Iraq on Memorial Day. One of the flags is en route back to Fort McHenry in Maryland, where it will be enshrined at the fort’s visitor center. “Truly, there is an important link between both McHenry’s, and the namesake shows how the legacy of courage and patriotism spans the 192 years from 1814 to 2006,” wrote Vaise. Allard hopes the ceremony at their Forward Operating Base (FOB) was a morale booster for soldiers. “A lot of people don’t know why their FOBs are named what they are,” explained Allard. “They’re after fallen soldiers or battles in the past, like with McHenry.” The FOBs flag will remain on display in Iraq as a reminder to the soldiers stationed here. “We always look back to our heritage and our traditions, and I think that history has a tendency of repeating itself,” said Allard. “At Fort McHenry they were protecting their country and themselves, just like FOB McHenry is here.”

[SandRat]

Now here's an Independence Day story.

[Caramelgal]

The Defense of Fort McHenry
by Francis Scott Key
20 September 1814


Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through 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 through 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, now conceals, now 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 wiped out their foul footstep's 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.

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen 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.
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner forever shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!