FReeper Canteen ~ Star Spangled Banner ~ 14 September 2026

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

Boston Pops

Barbershop Quartet

Josh Groban

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Mannheim Steamroller

Lynyrd Skynyrd ~ Red, White, and Blue

Mannheim Steamroller ~ America The Beautuful

The Jones Brothers ~ There’s A Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere

Lee Greenwood ~ 911 Tribute

Randy Travis ~ Heroes and Friends

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

[radu]

Greetings to all at the Canteen!

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

[KarlInOhio]

Whenever anyone complains about the violence of The Star Spangled Banner I tell then to get the French to drop La Marseilles first.

Grab your weapons, citizens!
Form your battalions!
Let us march! Let us march!
May impure blood
Water our fields!

Ours is survival against an overwhelming attack. France's is "let's arm ourselves and kill our enemies".

[radu]

Howdy, Kathy.

Have a nice, restful weekend, maybe curled up in the recliner with a good book?
Crazy start to today. THICK fog this morning. Couldn’t see anything on the cam for a while. Pretty for a few hours and now it looks like clouds are moving back in.

Toasty here but it’s been worse.

[PROCON]

Good evening, Kathy and thanks for honoring America's National Anthem!

Son's over for dinner so we'll see ya later!

[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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To every service man or woman reading this thread.
Thank You for your service to our country.
No matter where you are stationed,
No matter what your job description
Know that we are are proud of each and everyone of you.
To our military readers, we remain steadfast
in keeping the Canteen doors open.

The FR Canteen is Free Republic's longest running daily thread
specifically designed to provide entertainment and moral support for the military.
The doors have been open since Oct 7 2001,
the day of the start of the war in Afghanistan.

We are indebted to you for your sacrifices for our Freedom.

NOTE: CANTEEN MUSIC
Posted daily and on the Music Thread
for the enjoyment of our troops and visitors.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, radu...hope your day was not too hot.

[decal]

The tune is The Anacreontic Song (first line: “To Anacreon in Heaven”). Anacreon was a Greek poet from the 5th century BC known for writing dirty lyrics.

[decal]

The third stanza of “God Save the King”:

O Lord our God arise
Scatter his enemies
And make them fall
Confound their politics
Frustrate their knavish tricks
On thee our hopes we fix
God save us all

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, KarlInOhio....you make a very good point. Thanks...

[Kathy in Alaska]

First thing...turn off all alarms, including meds. Got several patches of good sleep. Meds a little late. LOL!
Lots of little “put off” jobs accomplished.

[Publius]

"To Anacreon in Heaven"

Note that the accidentals (sharps and flats) in today's version are absent in the original. It's also in minuet tempo.

[luvie]

Chris Botti~The Star Spangled Banner

Chris Stapleton~The National Anthem

Mannheim Steamroller~The Star Spangled Banner

[Kathy in Alaska]

You and your son enjoy dining and your time together.

[radu]

Here there, Kathy.

It was pretty toasty this afternoon but not too awful. I waited til a little after 5:00 to hop on champ and scalp the yard at the other house. It had cooled off a little and that yard was in shade by then.
After doing nothing yesterday, I needed to get up to so something today.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, decal...thanks for the added info.

[radu]

Turning off all alarms is a must on weekends! You’ve forgotten to do that a time or two. LOL
Lots of sleep after a rough work week. Meds a little late ..... I think you’ll live.
Still got some put-off things dealt with. Sounds like a good enough weekend.

Just a shame it wasn’t quite warm enough to sit in the sun on the deck. A little cool and breezy for that.

[radu]

HOwdy, luvie.

I hope you didn’t have to be outside as much today as yesterday. Did it stay below 100?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Very cool...thank you, Publius!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, luvie...so many versions of The Star Spangled Banner. I like hearing them all.