Anthem continues to hit home

To the editor:

Recently I heard a man sing the last verse of the “Star Spangled Banner.” Many years ago in school, we had to learn the verses of this song.

“O, thus it be ever, when freemen shall stand, between their loved home and the war’s desolation. Blest with victory and peace; may the heaven rescued land, praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, and this be our motto, ‘In God is Our Trust.’ And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

Although this song was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814, it is still relevant 196 years later.

Margaret Vinduska
Marion

(Reprinted by permission of the U.S. Commissioner of Education.)