I love a good fireworks show on the Fourth of July. There is something that makes me feel good about spreading a blanket on a grassy area with the people of my community gathered around, marveling at the brilliant color, shapes and the booming sound of the overhead pyrotechnics. I have seen many fireworks displays in my lifetime. The best are always on the Fourth of July. Beyond the awe inspiring show of lights, let me give you a good reason to attend a fireworks display on July 4 this year.

You may know that the fireworks we use to celebrate Independence Day are tied to the lyrics to our National Anthem: "…the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there.” Most people believe that the song was written to commemorate the founding of our nation on July 4, 1776. Actually, the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner come from a poem written by a lawyer, Francis Scott Key, 38 years after the birth of our nation. Key was born in 1779, four years after the American Revolutionary War began and four years before it ended. He was too young to remember it. The Patriots of the Revolution were of his parents’ generation. As the young nation entered its second generation, another war with Britain threatened American sovereignty and tested its resolve to remain free – the War of 1812. During this war, Washington D.C. was attacked and the White House was set on fire. President James Madison had to flee the advancing British troops. (You may know that his wife, Dolly Madison, cut a Gilbert Stuart painted portrait of George Washington from its frame to save it from the flames.) It was during this war that the American will to stay a free nation was tested. Enter Francis Scott Key.

Key was a lawyer who had been employed by the United States to negotiate a prisoner exchange with the British. On September 13, 1814, Key and Colonel John Stuart Skinner sailed a small boat to a British prison ship anchored in Chesapeake Bay. After making their negotiations, they were detained. While on the ship, they had learned of the British intention to attack Baltimore and the Brits were not about to let them return to the city and announce the attack. Between the city and the British war fleet was Fort McHenry: a five-pointed-star-shaped fortress built on a point at the entrance to the Baltimore Harbor. If the British were to take the city by sea, they would have to disarm or destroy Fort McHenry. For 25 hours September 13-14, the British Navy fired upon the fort. Key and Skinner could only watch as the mortar and rocket fire continued through the night. They could only guess that since the bombardment continued, that the American fort had not fallen. It was not until morning light that they knew for sure.

The commander of Fort McHenry, Major George Armistead, had requisitioned a Baltimore seamstress, Mary Pickersgill, to make a flag so large that the British could see it from miles away. The oversized flag had been flying over the fort when the fight began. As the sun rose over the waters, Key could see the torn and tattered flag still flying over the fort. Despite the continual barrage, that flag flying above the fort became a symbol of the resolve of the troops in Fort McHenry not to give in.

Key was greatly impressed by the symbolism of that flag. This was not their parent’s war. This was the war of his generation. Would they stand up and be counted? On that morning, when the light revealed the flag over McHenry, Key knew they would. When the British had run out of ammunition, they gave up the fight. Key, Skinner and the prisoner that was released were freed to return to shore. On the way, Key penned a poem that he named The Defence of Fort McHenry. The name was later changed to the Star Spangled Banner. If you go to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C., make sure you go see the flag that inspired the writing of the National Anthem.

Why should you go to the fireworks on July 4? To celebrate what comes the next day – your freedom is still intact. You live in a great country. It may be tested again in our lifetime. Will we have the resolve to fight for freedom? The fireworks are a reminder of the hard times; the challenging times that require us to put action to our beliefs. The flag is a symbol of perseverance through those hard times. I tend to believe we will keep the flag flying. Have a good Independence Day.