I wish that I could take credit for brilliant planning yesterday; but the truth is it was an incredible opportunity that fell into our laps. We had visited the original of the 1814 Fort McHenry flag the day before at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC. Then yesterday we showed up to visit Fort McHenry in Baltimore and to our surprise it was Flag Day and a major program was planned for that evening. Of course, we had to stay and witness a recreation of one of the most seminal events in our country's history. There were probably 5,000 people there in attendance and most missed the coolest part.
After a night of horrendous bombardment that included over a thousand Congreve Rockets fired at the defenders hunkered behind "earthen works" and in a heavy rain, on the morning of September 14, 1814 the 17' flag that had been up through the night was hauled down and the 30' x 42' flag was hoisted. Only a few days earlier the British had burned the public buildings in Washington DC. Now the defenders were saying with this gigantic flag that we have survived your wretched bombardment and attack and have prevailed!
Shortly after the flag was hoisted on that September morning, the British departed. For me witnessing the fireworks yesterday finally evoked the true significance of who and where and when the rockets were being fired upon - because we were standing right there where it happened. Wow. Richard