{"id":12153,"date":"2004-09-01T17:47:59","date_gmt":"2004-09-01T21:47:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=12153"},"modified":"2025-02-27T12:09:26","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T17:09:26","slug":"god-bless-america-by-debbieb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=12153","title":{"rendered":"God Bless America (by DebbieB)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:<\/strong>\u00a0 Ben gives his young sons a history lesson on America’s birthday.<\/p>\n

Rated:<\/strong> G (2,375 words)<\/p>\n

God Bless America<\/strong><\/p>\n

The ride home had been a pleasant one.\u00a0\u00a0 All three Cartwright boys had been excited about the fireworks display that they had been witnesses to this evening.\u00a0 Little Joe who had been the most excited had talked nonstop all the way home.\u00a0 Adam and Hoss had tried to get a word in every once in awhile but had finally given up and listened happily to their younger brother\u2019s constant chatter.<\/p>\n

Ben now sat in his favorite chair, brandy in hand, watching his two youngest sons, Hoss thirteen and Little Joe seven, play at the checker board which sat on the round table at the far end of the great room.\u00a0 Adam, his oldest son who was nineteen, sat in the blue velvet chair across from his father, reading Shakespeare, his favorite pass time.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoys,\u201d said Ben, calling his sons to attention.\u00a0 \u201cDo you know what tonight\u2019s fireworks display was all about?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure Pa, we learnt about that in school,\u201d Hoss said looking up from his game of checkers.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s our country\u2019s celebration of freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right son,\u201d smiled Ben.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m glad to know you have been paying attention in school.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAh shucks, Pa,\u201d said Hoss hanging his head in embarrassment at his father\u2019s teasing.<\/p>\n

Little Joe and Hoss got up from where they sat and came to sit on the hearth in front of the great fireplace that was the center of the Cartwright home.<\/p>\n

\u201cFreedom from what Pa?\u201d Joe asked climbing instead into his father\u2019s lap.\u00a0 Snuggling close into his father\u2019s chest, Ben\u2019s arm encircled his young son.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it\u2019s like this,\u201d began Ben making sure that he had all of his sons\u2019 full attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn April 19, 1775 a group of thirteen British colonies went to war.\u00a0 They wanted their own country, a country that they governed, a country that was free from the rule of another.\u00a0 Many people gave up much by coming to this land, and they wanted it to be their own country.\u00a0\u00a0 On July 4, 1776 the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.\u00a0 Ties between the colonies and the mother country, that being Great Britain, had been cut.\u00a0 They fought for several years for that right, finally winning their independence from Great Britain and becoming the independent United States of America.\u00a0 This war lasted until 1783.\u00a0 A lot of lives were lost in this war, both American and British, but the Americans fought for something they believed in, and that was freedom, and freedom does have a price,\u201d Ben explained to his sons.<\/p>\n

Seeing that his sons were listening, Ben continued with his history lesson, \u201cFreedom is a treasured thing, especially to those who have never been allowed to experience it as we have.\u00a0 The new Americans wanted this country to be established by that rule, where all people were allowed free-dom, freedom to choose where to go and how to live their lives, the freedom to worship as they chose and freedom from fear for their families or for themselves for doing it.\u00a0 But yet, somewhere along the way, they seemed to have forgotten that because there are those even now who are not allowed those basic rights and I fear a war in the making, because not all people in our country are free as the four of us are.\u00a0 People of different color, race, and even nationality are still persecuted and held in bondage here in this land,\u201d Ben continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cYa mean the slaves and people like Hop Sing, Pa?\u201d asked Hoss, looking at his father, trying to take in all that his father was telling him.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou mean people that don\u2019t know no better hate Hop Sing?\u201d\u00a0 Little Joe asked, watching the expressions on his father\u2019s face, surprised that anyone could hate the little oriental housekeeper, cook and friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes precious, there are those who hate Hop Sing, just because he is Chinese, and different from the rest of us,\u201d Ben smiled at his youngest, glad to know that the boy was listening and seemingly understanding the point he was trying to make.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it goes further than that son, there is a kind of hate that exists here and in the countries over-seas.\u00a0 People seem to forget that each of our forefathers came here from a different country.\u00a0 Only the Indians were here when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620.\u00a0 The Indians wanted to be friends with the white settlers until the settlers began claiming lands that had always belonged to their red brothers. The whites began forcing the Indians from their homes and the ways of life that they had always been accustom to.\u00a0\u00a0 So naturally the Indians revolted and made war against the settlers.\u00a0 As it is now, most white men have laid claim to what used to be Indian land.\u00a0 You see son this whole country has fought outsiders and insiders alike.\u00a0 Those wars have made our land the
\ngreat country that it is today.\u201d\u00a0 Ben paused and took a swallow of his brandy, giving his three sons time to absorb the history of why they had just celebrated the 4th of July.<\/p>\n

Clearing his throat and watching the boys to be sure he still had their full attention he continued.\u00a0 \u201cEven in the good book, it states that there will always be war and rumors of wars.\u00a0 That is not a happy thought, but when you consider what is at stake, it becomes a very important thought.\u00a0 Men must always fight for what they believe in.\u00a0 There will come a day when each of you will have to decide for yourselves if what you believe in is important enough to fight and maybe even die for.\u00a0 Freedom is an important issue.\u00a0 Without it you will lose the right to choose for yourselves how and where you want to live your lives, where and how you choose to worship.\u00a0 You give up the right to make and keep the laws that our government makes for your country.\u00a0 You may even lose the right
\nto vote, or worse be governed by one man who wants to have control of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can only hope that when that day arrives that you have to make that decision, you will make the right one.\u00a0 The one that only you, as a man, can make, and live with.\u00a0 I pray that by then I would have been able to instill in you a set of values that will carry you throughout your lives and have given you the tools in which to make those kinds of decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben took a moment to look into the eyes of each of his sons, \u201c One day, maybe not even in your lifetimes, but one day, an enemy will come who tries to take from you, one or all of your basic freedoms.\u00a0 Do you know what those four basic freedoms are?\u201d Ben asked, looking to Adam, thinking that he was the best choice in answering.<\/p>\n

Adam looked at his father and into the dark intense eyes that watched him and solemnly stated, \u201cfreedom of worship, freedom of speech, freedom from want and freedom from fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right Adam, without those four basic freedoms, our land becomes a country doomed. \u00a0Those are the rights that our ancestors fought and died for.\u00a0 A hundred years from now, when all of us are dead and gone, they will still be the freedoms that men will fight and willingly die for, so that generations beyond ours and theirs can live their dreams.\u00a0 Just like we have been able to do. \u00a0And they should be able to live without fear of assault for coming and going where and when they want, without fear of an unknown enemy that might strike unannounced at any given moment.\u00a0 No man should have to be made to live in that kind of fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeday, there will be great cities all across this country, all united, all under one form of government, all people living a free life that they have earned because they believed strongly in something worth fighting for.\u00a0 One day all these Americans, regardless of what color their skin is, regardless of their nationality, will come together to fight this unknown enemy who may try to take from them something that they cherish in their hearts.\u00a0 The cost will be great, lives will be lost, mothers will cry for their sons and daughters, wives will cry for their husbands, children will cry for their fathers, and brothers.\u00a0 But when a nation stands true to their beliefs and true to the God who stands before all men, this country will prevail!\u201d\u00a0 Ben said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoys, there was a man, he died not too long ago, in 1843.\u00a0 His name was Francis Scott Key and in 1812 he wrote a poem, The Star-Spangled Banner. He wrote this after he had been held prisoner on a British warship watching from the shore a battle that was being fought against Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor.\u00a0 He watched the shelling of his countrymen throughout the night.\u00a0 The next morning, he saw that our flag was still there despite the ordeal.\u00a0 His joy inspired him to write a
\npoem about it.\u201d\u00a0 Ben watched his three sons, noting the interest that had sprung into their faces.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you want me to tell you how the poem goes?\u201d he asked, smiling.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure Pa, would ya?\u201d Little Joe asked as he turned in his father\u2019s lap to see into the face of the man he loved most.<\/p>\n

Clearing his throat and in his deep baritone voice, Ben began reciting.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh! Say, can you see, by the dawn\u2019s early light,
\nWhat so proudly we hailed at the twilight\u2019s last gleaming?
\nWhose broad stripes and bright stars, thro\u201d the perilous fight,
\nO\u2019er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
\nAnd the rockets\u2019 red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
\nGave proof thro\u2019 the night that our flag was still there.
\nOh! Say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
\nO\u2019er the land of the free and home of the brave?<\/em><\/p>\n

On the shore, dimly seen thro\u2019 the mist of the deep,
\nWhere the foe\u2019s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
\nWhat is that which the breeze, o\u2019er the towering steep,
\nAs it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
\nNow it catches the gleam of the morning\u2019s first beam,
\nIn full glory reflected, now shines on the stream.
\n\u2018Tis the star-spangled banner.\u00a0 Oh! Long may it wave
\nO\u2019er the land of the free and the home of the brave!<\/p>\n

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
\nThat the havoc of war and the battle\u2019s confusion
\nA home and a country should leave us no more?
\nTheir blood has washed out their foul footstep\u2019s pollution.
\nNo refuge could save the hireling and slave
\nFrom the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
\nAnd the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
\nO\u2019er the land of the free and the home of the brave.<\/p>\n

Oh! Thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
\nBetween their loved home and the war\u2019s desolation,
\nBlest with vict\u201dry and peace, may the Heav\u201dn-rescued land
\nPraise the Pow\u201dr that hath made and preserved us a nation.
\nThen conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
\nAnd this be our motto, \u201cIn God is our trust.\u201d
\nAnd the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
\nO\u2019er the land of the free and the home of the brave.\u201d<\/p>\n

All three Cartwright sons sat in silence, each deep in thoughts at the words of the poem and of the things that their father had told them.\u00a0 Ben watched the faces of his sons, giving silent thanks to the God who enabled him to raise his children in the land of the free and the home of the brave.\u00a0 Ben prayed within his heart that his sons would be spared the ravages of war but hoped that if and when that time came, they would indeed be ready to except the call of duty and stand united in what they believed.\u00a0 And in the nail scared hands of the God whom Ben believed, he placed the lives of his grandest treasures, his sons.<\/p>\n

\u201cPa,\u201d spoke Adam at last.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes son?\u201d Ben replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a beautiful poem, I can only imagine what Key must have been feeling when the smoke cleared and the flag was still there.\u00a0 Makes you choke up, just thinking about it,\u201d Adam said quietly, almost reverently.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes son, it does,\u201d agreed Ben.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo bed with you now, it\u2019s late,\u201d Ben instructed, rising from his chair, Little Joe still in his arms.\u00a0 \u201cAdam, will you please take your brother up with you?\u00a0 I\u2019ll turn out the lights and then be up to tuck the little scamp in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure Pa,\u201d Adam told his father as he removed his baby brother from his father\u2019s arms.\u00a0 Little Joe was almost asleep but managed to give his father a hug before allowing Adam to take him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks, Papa for tellin\u2019 us about America\u2019s birthday,\u201d said the sleepy little boy as he laid his head on his brother\u2019s shoulders and wrapped his arms around Adam\u2019s neck.<\/p>\n

\u201cNight Pa, love ya, night Adam, Little Joe,\u201d Hoss said as he made his way to the stairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood night Hoss, God bless,\u201d Ben told him smiling.<\/p>\n

When Adam and Little Joe reached the landing on the stairs, Little Joe could be heard muttering, \u201cHappy Birthday, America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben watched his sons until they disappeared at the top of the stairs, pride in his offspring growing in his heart.\u00a0 \u201cThank you God for such good boys, with your help, they will make fine men.\u00a0 And God, God bless America!\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben blew out the lamps and climbed the stairs to his own room.\u00a0 After checking on his sons, he crawled into bed; the words of Francis Scott Key\u00a0 \u2018land of the free and home of the brave,\u2019 playing out in his mind as his eyes closed in slumber.<\/p>\n

THE END<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dedicated to all those who lost their lives because of terrorism in the United States and to those who serve the military, giving of themselves and their lives so that the rest of us can enjoy the four basic freedoms and much, much more.\u00a0 God Bless you!<\/em><\/p>\n

Sept. 2001<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/g><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

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Summary:\u00a0 Ben gives his young sons a history lesson on America’s birthday.<\/p>\n

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