On Friday, Nov. 18, 2016, at about 2 p.m. in the afternoon, the United States park ranger at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Maryland, asked for help from the people present in the fort’s garrison. The Park Ranger wanted our assistance in lowering the U.S. flag from Fort McHenry’s flag pole.
The wind was very calm and Old Glory was about to be tangled and wrapped around Fort McHenry’s flag pole. The park ranger asked the 20 or so people present if we could work together with her to lower and fold our flag and replace it with a smaller Stars and Stripes. The smaller flag would not tangle and wrap itself about the flag pole.
To be with fellow Americans from around our nation, in this place of honor and significance, attending to our American flag was a magnificent experience.
My wife Brenda and I were fortunate to be present at Fort McHenry on this afternoon, and to be part of this experience during this Thanksgiving season was very special for all of us.
Bob Fuhrman
Fayetteville, Ga.
That’s Fayetteville resident Bob Fuhrman (center) during a special moment earlier in November at Ft. McHenry, Maryland. Photo/Submitted.
[Editor’s note: As many of our readers may already know, during the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key was inspired by the sight of the large flag above Ft. McHenry still flying after a British naval bombardment and wrote the words to the poem that later was set to music and became our national anthem. The original, restored flag is on display at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.]
