June 14th is
celebrated as Flag Day in the United States because this is the date in 1777
when the U.S. Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes for the nation’s official
flag. The first flag, as most know, was sewn by Betsy Ross of Philadelphia. It
was the 15-star and 15-stripe flag which flew over Fort McHenry in Baltimore to
write the poem which was later turned into the “Star-Spangled Banner”. 15 stripes?? This is not a typo as the
original plan was to add a star and a stripe when a new state entered the
union. This was later amended to the 13 stripes to represent the 13 original
colonies that became the first states. There have been 26 different versions of
the U.S. flag as states have been added. Our current flag with 50 stars has
been in existence since 1960. Fly your flag proudly and often.
Today is
also the 237th birthday of the United States army which was formed
by the Continental Congress to face the British soldiers in Boston,
Massachusetts and predates the birth of the U.S. as a country. General George
Washington was appointed the first commander-in-chief and took command of the
army on July 3, 1775. Today approximately 1.5 million men and women proudly
serve this county in over 150 countries worldwide. Please remember them in your
thoughts and prayers.
Submitted by Bonnie Marron