The first part of March is probably best known for having the First Day of Spring, however it’s also a time to think about our National Anthem.
On 3 Mar 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a congressional act making “The Star-Spangled Banner” our nation’s official national anthem. Here’s the rest of the story:
On 14 Sept 1814, Francis Scott Key composed the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner” after witnessing the massive overnight British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Maryland during the War of 1812. Key, an American lawyer, watched the siege while under detainment on a British ship and penned the famous words after observing with awe that Fort McHenry’s flag survived the 1,800-bomb assault.
After circulating as a handbill, the patriotic lyrics were published in a Baltimore newspaper on 20 Sept 1814. Key’s words were later set to music. Throughout the 19th century, “The Star-Spangled Banner” was regarded as the national anthem by most branches of our armed forces and other groups, but it was not until 1916, and the signing of an executive order by President Woodrow Wilson, that it was formally designated as such. In March 1931, Congress passed an act confirming Wilson’s presidential order, and on March 3 President Hoover signed it into law.
Our nation’s history does have some other interesting things that happened in early March:
On 1 Mar 1912, Captain Albert Berry made the first parachute jump from an airplane at Jefferson barracks, Missouri. Captain Berry had a 36 ft. parachute packed into a metal case beneath the fuselage. The parachute had a trapeze bar for him to hold on to as he jumped and descended to the ground.
On 1 Mar 1954, baseball great Ted Williams fractured collarbone in 1st game of spring training after flying 39 combat missions without injury in Korean War.
On 9 Mar 1974 – Last Japanese soldier, a guerrilla operating in Philippines, surrendered, 29 years after WWII ended.
On 13 Mar 2022 – Daylight Savings time begins
On 15 Mar 1919 – At the end of WWI, the American Legion was founded in Paris by 1000 veterans of the American Expeditionary Force who met to discuss transition to civilian life and what veterans could do to help each other adjust and to work together to further the rights of veterans. They are the largest veteran organization in the US.
And for those who feel the riot at the US Capital on Jan 6th was a revolution or something, here are a couple events that weren’t treated that way—and they were a tad-more violent. The only person killed on Jan 6th was a female veteran who was trying to get the rioters to calm down—she was shot by a policeman; there was no investigation about that.
On 1 Mar 1954 – In the US Capitol, four members of an extremist Puerto Rican nationalist group fired more than 30 shots at the floor of the House of Representatives from a visitors’ gallery, injuring five representatives. Alvin Bentley of Michigan, George Fallon of Maryland, Ben Jensen of Iowa, Clifford Davis of Tennessee, and Kenneth Roberts of Alabama all eventually recovered from their gunshot wounds and returned to their seats in Congress. Three of the Puerto Rican terrorists were detained immediately after the shooting, and the fourth was captured later. The group was protesting the new constitution of Puerto Rico, which granted the US Congress ultimate authority over the commonwealth’s affairs.
On 1 Mar 1971 – A bomb exploded in the Capitol building in Washington, DC, causing an estimated $300,000 in damage but hurting no one. A group calling itself the “Weather Underground” claimed credit for the bombing, which was done in protest of the ongoing US-supported Laos invasion. The so-called Weathermen were a radical faction of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS); the Weathermen advocated violent means to transform American society. The philosophical foundations of the Weathermen were Marxist in nature; they believed that militant struggle was the key to striking out against the state to build a revolutionary consciousness among the young, particularly the white working class. Their primary tools to achieving these ends were arson and bombing. Among the other targets of Weathermen bombings were the Long Island Court House, the New York Police Department headquarters, the Pentagon, and the State Department.
Humor/Puns:
1. Love is grand; divorce is a hundred grand.
2. I am in shape. Round is a shape.
3. Time may be a great healer, but it’s a lousy beautician.
4. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, professionals built the Titanic.
5. Conscience is what hurts when everything else feels so good.
The Frontlines of Freedom Newsletter is published twice monthly; the dates of publication each month depend on the events and history of that month.
