 Thank you. Thank you all for that welcome and thank you senator Matthias Governor Hughes Mayor Schaefer the members of the Congress who are here. I appreciate their warm welcome and Don Schaefer, I know you're the mayor, but I understand that Just the other day The Earl of Baltimore Returned to the city. It's great to be here in the home of the Baltimore Orioles. I Don't know about you, but I always get a chill up and down my spine when I say that pledge of allegiance and I hope that everyone here will Join us and Americans all across the country when we pause for that pledge tonight And you've been given the time in which we will all do that across the nation Reaffirm our thankfulness our love and our loyalty to our blessed and beautiful land This flag that we salute today is a replica of one that flew through the night as you know 171 years ago during the bombardment of Fort McHenry Signaling defiance to the British and hope and inspiration to Francis Scott Key Some historians have called the war of 1812 the second war of independence The crucial test of our young Republic as it fought for its life Against what was then the strongest nation on earth By the end of the summer of 1814 The British had already taken our capital and burned the White House as the senator told you Baltimore was the next target in their grand design to divide our forces and crush this newly independent nation of upstart colonies all that stood between the British and Baltimore all that stood between America and Defeat was this fort and its guns blocking their entry into Baltimore Harbor The British fleet of warships moved within two miles of the fort and began a bombardment That was to last for 25 hours Through the dark hours of the night the rockets fired and the bombs exploded in a young American patriot named Key held captive aboard a British ship Watched anxiously for some proof some sign that Liberty would prevail You can imagine his joy when the next morning in the dawn's early light He looked out and saw the banner still flying a little tattered and torn and worse for wear But still flying proudly above the ramparts Fort McHenry and the brave men manning it had withstood the assault Baltimore was saved the United States this great experiment in human freedom as George Washington described it would endure Thinking back to those times one realizes that our democracy is so strong because it was forged in the fires of adversity In those dark days of the war it must have been easy to give in to despair It truly was a perilous night for our new nation But our forefathers were motivated by something bigger than themselves From the harsh winter of Valley Forge to the blazing night above Fort McHenry Those Patriot soldiers were sustained by the ideal of human freedom through the hardships and the setbacks they Kept their eyes on that ideal and that purpose just as through the smoke of battle. They kept a lookout for the flag But with the birth of our nation The cause of human freedom had become forever tied to that flag and its survival As the American Republic grew and prospered and new stars were added to the flag the ideal of freedom grew and prospered as Our country spread across the continent millions of the dispossessed the persecuted the tired the hungry and poor flocked to our shores and The human energies unleashed in this land of liberty were like those never before seen in this world From the mountains of Kentucky to the shores of California To the Sea of Tranquility on the moon Our pioneers carried our flag before them a symbol of the indomitable spirit of a free people and Let us never forget That in honoring our flag we honor the American men and women who have courageously fought and died for it over the last 200 years Patriots who set an ideal above any consideration of self and who suffered for it the greatest hardships Our flag flies free today because of their sacrifice Today we mark the 100th anniversary of the first flag day ceremony It was a small and modest ceremony honoring the anniversary of the creation of our flag a flag Birthday as they called it Conducted by a young school teacher and his students at the Stony Hill School in Wisconsin The teacher's name was Bernard Seagrand and through his subsequent efforts. He helped establish the national observance of flag day His granddaughter Mrs. Elroy a Seagrand Brown is with us today to help us celebrate Congratulations, Mrs. Brown. We have a few other distinguished relatives with us today the great great great granddaughter of Francis Scott Key Mrs. Elizabeth Blunt Wainwright and her two sons Andrew and Peter Mrs. Wainwright. It's been many years since your ancestor wrote the stirring poem that's become our national anthem now with that same spirit of self-reliance a Private sector initiative called the Patriots of Fort McHenry has been formed to refurbish this historic monument. I Commend the ingenuity and patriotism with the business and civic leaders that are undertaking this important event as We mark the 100th flag birthday the ideals for which our flag stands still challenge our nation and today is before We strive to reach the full potential of freedom to put things right and Open wide the door of the American Opportunity Society so that all of our citizens can walk through The great American experiment in freedom and democracy has really just begun Celebration such as this remind us of the terrible hardships our forefathers willingly endured for their beliefs and they challenge us to match that greatness of spirit in our own time these anniversaries Be remind us that freedom is not a resting place But a constant goal spurring us on to ever greater achievements America has always recognized our historic responsibility to lead the march of freedom since our revolution the first democratic revolution and the founding of our republic America has been a hope and inspiration to the oppressed and tyrannized the world over In the storm-tossed history of our globe The United States has been a strong and steady rudder Holding the world fast to the course of democratic progress That progress hasn't always been easy and there have been many setbacks along the way In my lifetime The world has suffered the agony of the twin inhuman ideologies of Nazism and communism But today freedom is rising around the globe Freedom is taking root and growing strong Over 90% of the people in the countries to our south Now live in democracies or countries that are confidently moving in that direction El Salvador Be set by terrorists Supported by the communist regime and Nicaragua has come securely through its own perilous night and Its democratic flag still flies proudly over a free land The democratic nations of Costa Rica and Honduras have also suffered from years of armed communist subversion and Recently from outright military attacks by Nicaragua But the communist bullying tactics have only bolstered the determination of the democratic Central American nations To defend their freedom Freedom is the wave of the future in those countries around the world where the tyrants still holds sway New resistance movements are gaining momentum in Nicaragua and Gola Afghanistan and Cambodia the freedom fighters now fight for their freedom and for human rights They fight for the same ideals that inspired our forefathers Though the tyrants they battler incomparably more ruthless Still the power and justice of their cause is such that even despite somewhat sometimes I'm overwhelming odds Many of these rebel movements continue to gain recruits and grow in strength So today's Freedom story is still being written the brave defense of Fort McHenry by our patriot army was one of its first chapters But the story will continue as long as there are tyrants and dictators who would deny their people There are inalienable rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness I Would interject here Right now. I have a letter which I treasure very much It is a full letter It is on a slip of paper only two and a half inches long and just under an inch in height But on that is penned a letter which can only be read with a Mac magnifying glass and then in my case had to Translated and there are ten names affixed in signature to that tiny letter It was smuggled out of a labor camp in the Soviet Union It was signed by ten women in that camp who have gone through hunger strikes In their desire for freedom and the reason they wrote me was to tell me that We in the United States Represented to them the hope that one day there would be freedom throughout the world I'm Going to keep that letter for as long as I live You know The Story as I say will continue Every time we place our hand over our heart and pledge allegiance to the flag We'll be reminded that our most precious inheritance is freedom and that history has bestowed on our nation the unique Responsibility for its protection When the commanding officer of Fort McHenry commissioned the original star-spangled banner The one that was later to bring so much hope to Francis Scott Key He ordered the one that would be in his words So large that the British will have no difficulty in seeing it from a distance Today the flag we so proudly hail still sends a message to any distance that the spirit of a free people is Unconquerable and that our democratic nation will always remain the land of the free and the home of the brave Thank you all for what you're doing. God bless you and God bless America Thank you very very much mr. President for those most inspiring words And as you were speaking you had no way to know and I had no way to know what you were going to conclude with But on my note, I had this printed with type Thank You mr. President for those inspiring words About the land of the free and the home of the brave Sir, I feel so good that our two words complimented each other Thank You, sir There would be very few people in Fort McHenry today that would know this This news because this has been a week of miracles First there was the news last week That you and Mrs. Reagan were going to honor us on flag day Hours have been long your staff has been magnificent to work with We've received a telephone call one night about nine o'clock From representative Barbara Mikulski Saying that the United States House of Representatives had suspended its rules and by unanimous consent Had passed house joint resolution to 11 to make the pause for the pledge a regular part of national flag day That was miracle number two last night about 745 Randy Dove Aide to senator Charles Mack Matthias called and Senator passed along the word That you had been successful in having the United States Senate Passed that same resolution Making both houses of Congress agreeing and I'm sure it will come to you for signature mr. President Making this pause for the pledge a part of national flag day. We thank you, sir so much Congresswoman Mikulski is here in the first row. Won't you please stand and take a bow a company by mrs. Helen delish Bentley Congresswoman from Maryland? We wish to add that all of the Maryland delegation of course joined in these resolutions from the very very beginning and we thank Representative Mikulski and senator Matthias We will now have the Morgan State University choir will sing two verses of it's a grand old flag Excuse me. We're allowed one every day. Mr. Mayor said yesterday Mr. President while you were talking Three unexpected guests dropped in to see you may I present them to you now? Here come these honored guests that extinguish parachuted We got one Mr. President On behalf of the national flag day committee and In honor of all the men and women who have proudly served under it I'd like to present you with this replica of the original star-spangled banner Very considerate mr. President Thank you very much men for bringing that star-spangled banner right down and now let me introduce the Morgan State University choir Which will sing two verses of it's a grand old flag Followed by the United States Air Force Band playing stars and stripes forever