FReeper Canteen ~ The Star Spangled Banner ~ 04 March 2021

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

Francis Scott Key

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

The Star Spangled Banner

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

[Kathy in Alaska]

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! Fools, fools, stupid fools!!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Mooch. We are thinking the same thing.

Hope your arm is feeling better. Is the ice gone? Nicer weather?

[luvie]

Are those trees like our mesquite trees. It’s not spring here till they start leafing out. They KNOW....! LOL!

I wish we got rain storms instead of sand. It really stirs up the ol’ allergies. The wind is supposed to be 40-50 mph tomorrow. Blech

[Songcraft]

That was amazing!

[Kathy in Alaska]

A great selection for a favorite song. Thanks, Songcraft.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, hoagy...I’ve heard about this, but not seen it. It is spectacular! Love the setting.

Thanks for sharing.

[The Mayor]

It was my pleasure Kathy! Thank you

[radu]

Nice to have a tree variety that KNOWS when it’s spring, huh? LOL

You have spring winds that kick up sand and fir up your allergies.
We have spring rains that wake up the plants and they spew pollen that fires up our allergies.

A drawback to spring but it’s still my favorite season.

Ugh, that kind of wind will really kick up clouds of sand. I hope you don’t have to go anywhere.

[luvie]

Nope, I’m staying in tomorrow. I’ll just go out to feed the kitties, and if the wind has already kicked in, they’ll eat a bit and then scramble to get out of it.

Right. Rain does cause its own problems, but I’ll take it over sand any day. :) I think fall is my favorite season now. After the harsh summer, the somewhat cooler days and nights are very welcome.

[luvie]

?

[E.G.C.]

A very pleasant good Thursday morning and ((HUGS)) to everyone at the Canteen and to all our military at home and abroad. Thanks for your service to our country.

How's everyone doing this morning?

[radu]

Good that you didn’t have any appointments lined up for tomorrow that would force you out. Stepping out to feed the cats will be bad enough.

I enjoy the cooler temps of fall but I don’t like seeing everything die off for the winter. Watching everything come back to life in the spring is why it’s my favorite season. It makes the heart sing.

[radu]

Howdy, E.G.C. ((HUGZ))

Did you and Gizmo have a large time at Wichita Ridge yesterday?

[luvie]

I told hubby if anyone wants me tomorrow, I’m not at home. LOL! I’ve been out and about too much these past 2-3 weeks. How can I maintain my reputation of laziness if that keeps up. :)

You wouldn’t like spring as much if your sky was brown half the time. LOL! Any other place it’s lovely.

[MoochPooch]

Arm is getting better. Luckily, so is the weather.

I’m afraid I’m not much of a winter girl.

[Kathy in Alaska]

1st...glad your arm is getting better. 2nd...glad your weather is too.

Hope spring weather is coming soon.

My front yard...when my plow guy cleans my driveway, he has to put the snow up in the yard. There was so much snow I had to have a dump truck load removed.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks, luvie, for another version of our Star Spangled Banner.

[radu]

Just because you’re retired doesn’t mean you need to stay home all the time. Now’s when you get out just for the heck of it. LOL! I love getting out but don’t have a lot of reason to other than shopping or taking cats to the vet. One reason I look forward to the military museum opening this year. THERE’S a good reason to get out!

Brown skies and brown everything else is why I will never live in a desert. Love that greenery and blue skies far too much, especially the greenery.

[Kathy in Alaska]

w h !!

Thanks, unique!

luvie.....#50!!

[luvie]

I am not sure why I like staying at home so much. Until I retired, I loved shopping and going out to eat and all that stuff. I haven’t been to the mall that I worked in since I retired nearly 5 years ago. I think I just had my fill of it. There’s really nothing here that I’d go out of my way to see like you do the museum. It’s the most boring, ugliest town in Texas, I’ll swear.

I didn’t plan on living here after marriage. It just turned out that way. After watching that video, I see that your neck of the woods is just gorgeous!