As I was driving to work today, I was reminded of such a great country that we live in. There are flags on people’s lawns and every flag pole has the flags at half mass to honor all the men and women that fell that fateful day of September 11, 2001. I can’t believe that eight years has passed by.
Ten days after 9-11 President Bush gave an amazing, patriotic speech to our country. He said:
"Great harm has been done to us. We have suffered great loss. And in our grief and anger we have found our mission and our moment.
Freedom and fear are at war. The advance of human freedom, the great achievement of our time and the great hope of every time, now depends on us.
Our nation, this generation, will lift the dark threat of violence from our people and our future. We will rally the world to this cause by our efforts, by our courage. We will not tire, we will not falter and we will not fail."
I love this country! I am pumped up and ready to fight just reading his words from 2001. Thanks to all of those soldiers that have had the guts to fight for my freedoms. I love you little brother you are amazing!
Since our kids and younger siblings are not allowed to share the Pledge of Allegiance in school, I think that sometimes we forget about what this country is based on. As I was reading today about the history of the Pledge of Allegiance, I forgot that it had changed over the years. The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August 1892 by the socialist minister Francis Bellamy. It was originally published in The Youth's Companion on September 8, 1892.
It originally read:
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
In 1923, the words, "the Flag of the United States of America" were added. At this time it read:
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
In 1954, in response to the Communist threat of the times, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words "under God," creating the 31-word pledge we say today. Bellamy's daughter, the original author, objected to this alteration. Today it reads:
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
1 comment:
I love this post. I didn't know the other versions of The Pledge and I also didn't know that it was officially not said in schools anymore. That makes me kind of sad.
I hope you guys are enjoying Provo in the Fall. Just think, in another month it could be snowing :)
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