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| USS FORT MCHENRY (LSD 43) |
The fire hose salute was rendered to honor Fort McHenry’s namesake: the original fort that guarded Baltimore harbor in the War of 1812 and successfully fended off the invading British fleet on Sept. 14, 1814.
“Fort McHenry stands as a reminder of who we are as Americans – It is our legacy,” said Cmdr. Thomas Ulmer, Fort McHenry’s commanding officer. “When faced with tremendous adversity, following the example of those who came before us, we have and will continue to pull together as one team and one nation to face our challenges.”
When the battle concluded, a 15-star flag was raised over the fort. This iconic sight inspired Francis Key Scott to compose the poem that the United States knows today as the National Anthem.
Articles: Francis Scott Key's Fourth Stanza
the poem/song’s most powerful stanza is its last. In the fourth stanza Key proclaims the primary reason for the republic’s survival and a divine hope for its glorious future:
“Oh! thus be it ever; when freemen shall standWritten 200 years ago. Few words choke me up more.
Between their loved homes 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, for our cause it is just,
And this be our motto- "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
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