FReeper Canteen ~ The Star Spangled Banner~ 15 September 2025

Serving The Best Troops and Veterans In The World !! | The Canteen Crew

[Kathy in Alaska]

~ Star Spangled Banner ~
Written by Francis Scott Key (1814)

Canteen Mission Statement

Showing support and boosting the morale of
our military and our allies military
and the family members of the above.
Honoring those who have served before.

The War of 1812 had been a particularly nasty conflict with the British. They had burned down the Capitol and the White House in Washington, and were set on taking the port of Baltimore, which was protected in part by Fort McHenry, just to the south.

On September 7th, 1814, during the build-up to the attack on Baltimore, two Americans, Colonel John Skinner and a lawyer and part-time poet by the name of Francis Scott Key, had gone out to one of the British ships. They had come to negotiate the release of Dr William Beanes, a friend of Key who had been seized following the attack on Washington. The British agreed, but all three had learned too much about the forthcoming attack on Baltimore and so were detained by the British on board the frigate Surprise until it was over.

The attack started on September 12th, 1814, and after an initial exchange of fire, the fleet withdrew to form an arc just outside the range of Fort McHenry's fire.

Skinner, Beanes and Key watched much of the bombardment from the British deck. The major attack started in heavy rain on the morning of September 13th. Just under three miles in the distance the three men caught glimpses of the star-shaped fort with its huge flag - 42ft long, with 8 red stripes, 7 white stripes and 15 white stars, and specially commissioned to be big enough that the British could not possibly fail to see it from a distance.

In the dark of the night of the 13th, the shelling suddenly stopped. Through the darkness they couldn't tell whether the British forces had been defeated, or the fort had fallen.

As the rain cleared, and the sun began to rise, Key peered through the lifting darkness anxious to see if the flag they had seen the night before was still flying. And so it was that he scribbled on the back of an envelope the first lines of a poem he called Defense of Fort M'Henry.

O, say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming

More info here...

STAR SPANGLED BANNER

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Please remember that The Canteen is is here to support
and entertain our troops and their families,
and is family friendly.

[Kathy in Alaska]

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 thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, 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, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh 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 washed 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!

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!

[Kathy in Alaska]

~ The Star Spangled Banner ~

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT

Showing support and boosting the morale of
our military and our allies' military
and the family members of the above.
Honoring those who have served before.

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[PROCON]

Good evening, Kathy and thanks for honoring our Grand Old Flag!

[grey_whiskers]

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 washed 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!

I fear this verse will become VERY important in the coming weeks and months.

[left that other site]

Hi everybody!

(((HUGS)))

[radu]

Greetings to all at the Canteen!

To all our military men and women, past and present,

[PAR35]

I prefer the fourth stanza to the usual first stanza.

[radu]

Howdy, Kathy.

Hope you’ve had a restful weekend. Pay Week ahead. :-(
Nice to see the sky clearing a bit up there. Sure was a dreary start to the day.

[radu]

Howdy, PRO.

Seeing Old Glory waving in a breeze stirs the heart.

Hope you’ve had a good weekend!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Pro...that Grand Old Flag is OURS!!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, grey_whiskers...the days ahead are going to be rough.

[grey_whiskers]

Let us all to prayers.

By way of encouragement I have seen numerous posts on other sites, of people writing for themselves, ‘I feel a need to reconnect with God. How do I find a church?’ or “How do I start reading the Bible” or even one saying he needed to learn about God because he dreamed he was talking with Charlie Kirk.
“What about?” “Jesus.”

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, ML...((HUGS))...hope you got some sleep and maybe got some time with Blue.

How are you and Tippy doing with your sunrises?

[MoochPooch]

Evening, Kathy. The song is an uplifting welcome after a horrible past few days.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, radu....hope you got your mowing done.

Dry here and my deck is covered in golden leaves. It’s happening.

[lightman]

Mrs. L is now retired from public school music teaching but back in the day her lesson plan for September 14 was to teach the history of our National Anthem including ALL the stanzas.

When asked to sing it a public ceremonies and law enforcement banquets she always began with the final stanza (O thus be it e’er...) and usually invite all to join her on the well known first stanza.

Invariably someone would comment afterward that they had never heard the final stanza before!

[radu]

You didn’t get any rain overnight? Bummer.
It was foggy for a while this morning out by the airports and it was after 2:00 when the mountains finally came back into view. Stubborn clouds wouldn’t move off.

The trees are turning fast! A couple of days ago, they were green. Now there’s a LOT of gold.

I did knock out that last small area this afternoon. Now everything is short. What I mowed last week has grown back a little but it’s still short enough. With no rain in the forecast, it won’t grow much any time soon. Champ gets a nice break. The ol’ bum back does too. LOL

[Kathy in Alaska]

Hello Veterans, wherever you are!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Welcome to the Canteen, PAR25...the fourth stanza is very powerful.

[Theophilus]

Another song paraphrases the Anthem:

Demonic Tranny Assasins take note:

Lunatic fringe
In the twilight's last gleaming
This is open season
But you won't get too far

'Cause you've got to blame someone
For your own confusion
We're on guard this time (on guard this time)
Against your final solution