Dr. Bruce Porter
Our Last Independence Day?
July 3, 2009

“At what point then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer that if it ever reach us, it must spring from amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we ourselves must be the authors and finishers. As a nation of free men, we must live through our times or die by suicide.” – Abraham Lincoln

The tattered flag that flew over Fort McHenry near Baltimore Harbor is now enshrined in a museum. Francis Scott Key, an American lawyer, had boarded a British warship on Sept. 13, 1814 to petition the British for the release of an American doctor held prisoner. Before Key could leave the ship however, the British fleet attacked Ft. McHenry. Key was detained during the battle, and all he could do was stare out over the water toward Ft. McHenry as the furious British bombardment pummeled the fort for over 25 hours. When the shelling stopped after dawn, Key eagerly peered out over the water through the early-morning mist and gun smoke. With unspeakable joy he beheld the flag yet flying defiantly over the fort, and wrote down his feelings in a poem that would eventually become our national anthem.

Now, the rest of the story...

The British navy at that time represented the greatest military power in the world, and the full force of their wrath was directed against the fort. During the siege, the British commander made an offer to cease fire if those within the fort would only lower the American flag. The American defenders defiantly refused, and for the entire night the enraged Brits bombarded Fort McHenry from their massive warships.

The British targeted their artillery barrage particularly upon the U.S. flag itself, seeking to knock it down. However to their amazement, each time it began to fall under the hail of shells, it would suddenly rise again. The British commander was distressed as the day dawned and the flag, though damaged and tattered, was still proudly flying over the fort.

What the Brits didn’t realize, and later discovered much to their amazement, was that each time a shell would hit the flag or its supports, the McHenry patriots would run forward under the hail of artillery and physically hold up the flag until the next shell would kill or wound them. This went on all night. Each time men would fall at the flagpole, others would run forward to take their place, knowing that doing so would mean certain death. These brave American patriots understood the importance of that flag and what it symbolized. They knew that for it to fall, it would signal defeat and the loss of the liberties purchased for them at the cost of countless men and women who shed their blood for freedom.

Here’s a question each of us needs to ponder in these days of trial. Are we still willing to hold up that banner and all it stands for? Does that flag yet wave over the land of the free and the home of the brave? Are we yet willing to pay the ultimate price in defense of our God-given liberty?

Our nation is at grave risk. Traitors who despise our freedoms and ceaselessly labor to subvert our political liberties as a means of destroying them are at work in our very midst. From the highest offices of our land voices are heard that denigrate and besmirch our proud heritage and seek to embarrass us before nations around the world who would love nothing more than to see our destruction. We need make no apologies before our enemies, and have ever stood for justice, liberty, and prosperity in a world of dictators, kings, and self-appointed potentates.

President Lincoln’s speech, given at the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois January 27, 1838, was nothing short of prophetic.

“The world has never had a good definition of the word ‘liberty.’ The American people just now, are much in want of one. We all declare for liberty. But in using the same word, we do not all mean the same thing. What constitutes the bulwark of our liberty and independence? It is not our frowning battlements, our bristling seacoasts – these are not our reliance against tyranny. Our reliance is in the love of liberty, which God has planted in our bosom. Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own door.

“At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never. All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, could not, by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.

“At what point then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer that if it ever reach us, it must spring from amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we ourselves must be the authors and finishers. As a nation of free men, we must live through our times or die by suicide.

“Let reverence for the law be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap; let it be taught in the schools, in the seminaries and in the colleges; let it be written in primers, in spelling books and almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls and enforced in courts of justice; and in short, let it become the political religion of the nation.

“And let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay, of all sexes and tongues and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly at its altar. And let us strive to deserve, as far as mortals may, the continued care of Divine Providence, trusting that in future national emergencies, He will not fail to provide us the instruments of safety and security.

“Let us not be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.” – Abraham Lincoln

On this Independence Day, let’s remember that freedom isn’t free. Ask any veteran who fought and defended this great nation against tyranny and oppression. Our constitutional liberties were gained and maintained by heartbreaking sacrifice. When we watch the fireworks with our families, let us remember that those fireworks commemorate a desperate battle when brave Americans stood up and defended liberty for all generations to follow.

Let us diligently teach our children what those “bombs bursting in air” actually represent the blood, sweat, and tears of our forefathers who gave their all so we could live as free men and women.

Most important of all, let us pause during our barbeques and family gatherings and give thanks to God for His Providential grace and mercy toward us, and ask His continued blessing and protection upon our nation.