I, Old Glory by Beau John

Have you ever watched a parade march by while the band was playing "You're A Grand Old Flag"? Did you feel like joining them, marching proudly along side of Old Glory? Do you really know what that Grand Old Flag represents?

This evening, I would like to portray to you what Old Glory would say if it could speak.

"I, Old Glory, am also known as the American Flag, the United States Flag, the Stars and Stripes and the Red White and Blue. On June 14, 1777, I was adopted as the flag of the United States by the Continental Congress. Elizabeth "Betsy" Ross, you could say, was my mother. With her loving hands she gave me life. The red in my stripes stands for the brave who fought and died to preserve these United States. The white in my stripes stands for purification because it is our trust in God that we need to keep united. The 13 stars of white on a blue field represent a new constellation.

I stood proudly along side of George Washington, who some call the father of our country, at Valley Forge. I gave Francis Scott Key the inspiration to write the Star Spangle Banner while watching me stand all night while being bombarded by the English at For McHenry. It was me at Gettysburg with President Lincoln when he gave the Gettysburg address. And I hung sadly at half mast when the great Lincoln was laid away after being shot and killed by John Wilks Booth. I was with Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders at San Juan, helping to preserve freedom.

During the First World War, I was with the Dough Boys in Europe fighting for liberty. It was me the four soldiers set up on the hill at Iwo Jima. The Second World War was Hell. It has taken many good brave men from their families. Left many children without fathers, and wives without husbands. I saw it all - I was there.

When the first American troops were sent to Korea to help fight communistic aggression and give the South Korean people freedom, I was there. I was in Vietnam and saw many American boys who fought for a flag and what it represented. I was laid over President John F. Kennedy's casket as he lay in state in the capitol rotunda of the the White House when he was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. When Martin Luther King, Jr., holder of the Nobel Peace Prize was shot and killed, I was asked to be held at half-mast.

I stood along side all the presidents when they were inaugurated. Proudly I fly over the State Capitols and the American Embassies in Foreign Countries. I have seen this great country grow from 13 to 50 states and watched over it for more than 200 years. I felt sad when some of our school children would not pledge to me or pray to God. They say it had something to do with courts, and to do with freedom. I am the symbol of freedom and liberty, or at least I was when this great country of ours gained it's independence.

People of America, I am your flag; the veteran of all these wars and hardships. I have watched a nation gain greatness and achievement, but the respect for me and what I stand for seems no longer needed - why? Is it because we do not put our trust in God? Is there a lack of respect for his authority? In order for this great country to go on for another 200 years, we must carry on the principles our forefathers laid down for us. WE must also return to God and rely on the saying "in God We Trust".

Fellow Americans, the next time you make the Pledge of Allegiance or see me leading a parade, I hope you will feel proud, a little choked up, and remember what I stand for. I, Old Glory, am the soul of America. I represent Liberty, Justice, and Freedom for all.