Then conquer we must

when our cause it is just,

And this is 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.

–Francis Scott Key, 1814

I cannot offer an adequate explanation for the flood of strong emotions that overtake me when I see our nation’s flag or watch a Navy jet fly overhead, but my reaction is completely predictable. In fact, my kids count it among myriad of “Mom Moments” to be endured, and they know better than to make fun of my hand-on-my-heart, tears-in-my-eyes reactions.

I think our flag is beautiful and my appreciation grew enormously the day we visited the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historical Shrine some years ago. Constructed in 1776 and strategically located on Whetstone Point outside Baltimore, Md., this earthen star-shaped fort, surrounded on three sides by water, had already proven its value to the residents of Baltimore when British warships amassed off her coast early in the summer of 1814.

Think back, for a moment, to that American history class you took way back when. England’s war with France had involved the U.S. when her desire to regulate high seas American shipping and search U.S. vessels for British deserters had already incited skirmishes at Lake Erie, Lake Champlain and along the Atlantic seaboard. But it was after the British Navy had captured Baltimore’s much loved physician, Dr. William Beanes, to take him as a prisoner of war upon their flagship, the Tonnant, that we first learn of Francis Scott Key, creator of our national anthem.

A prominent Baltimore lawyer, father and well-known Christian, praised for his peaceful approaches to conflict resolution in the courts, Mr. Key arranged to have Col. John Skinner, an American agent for prisoner exchange, accompany him. Together they set sail aboard a sloop flying a flag of truce to propose the release of Dr. Beanes, who was sure to be hanged in due time.

While Key successfully negotiated with the British for Dr. Beanes’ release, at one point producing a pouch of letters from wounded British prisoners praising the care they were receiving from the Americans, officials at Fort McHenry braced for future bombardment.

One year earlier they had commissioned Baltimore seamstress Mary Young Pickersgill and her 13-year-old daughter Caroline to create a flag the British would have no trouble seeing from a distance. They produced a flag measuring 30 by 42-feet, made from their best wool bunting, that included two-feet wide stripes and 15 stars that were two feet tall from point to point.

At 7 a.m. on the morning of Sept. 13, 1814, the flag was raised over the fort as the British bombardment began. A safe distance away Beanes, Key and Skinner, newly freed, watched with anxiety for 25 hours as the battle waged. Not knowing exactly how the campaign was progressing and frustrated by his inability to further serve his country, Key turned to the two activities that provided him the most peace: praying and writing religious verse.

When dawn revealed an American flag still flying high and retreating British forces, it is said that Key began writing on the back of an old envelope. From his euphoria came “The Star Spangled Banner,” although at the time Key titled his four-versed work, “The Defense of Fort McHenry.”

His passionate verses were set into print by an enthusiastic brother-in-law and eventually made their way into newspapers through the States. On March 3, 1931, the verse became our national anthem and was set to the tune, “Anacreon in Heaven.”

To stand at Fort McHenry and listen to a historian retell the tale is not to be missed. Neither is the understanding that most of the key players in our early history were as passionate about their young country as they were about their Christian faith. They were principled and public in their beliefs.

It is for this reason I am so excited for my own husband and son who will leave this weekend with other Western Washington Boy Scouts and their leaders to attend the National Boy Scout Jamboree at Fort A. P. Hill in Bowling Green, Va. Some 43,000 Scouts, leaders and staff will live, work and recreate together in an atmosphere intended to bring about a clearer understanding of and deeper commitment to the ideals of Scouting and our country. Many of the Scouts will extend their visit by touring historic sites along the East Coast and it is my prayer they return with that same sense of pride and commitment so many of us feel when we sing the anthems, salute the flag and read about the work and beliefs held by our forefathers.

May freedom ring and patriotism grow. May future generations thrill by the site of the flag and whisper a prayer of thanks for all we have in this nation of ours.