Preamble

We the People of the United States, in order to form a more

perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility,

provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and

secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do

ordain and establish the Constitution of the United States of

America.

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. A DECLARATION

By the REPRESENTATIVES of theUNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
In GENERAL CONGRESS assembled

(excerpts)

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal,

that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,

that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness-That to

secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving

their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any

Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of

the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,

laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in

such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and

Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long

established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and

accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to

suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by

abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed.

Lincoln's Address at Gettysburg, 1863

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this

continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the

proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or

any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on

a great battle field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of

that field, as a final restingplace for those who here gave their lives

that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that

we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate - we can not consecrate - we

can not hallow - this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who

struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or

detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say

here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the

living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they

who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to

be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from

these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which

they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly

resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation,

under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of

the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the

earth.

The Star Spangled Banner

By Francis Scott Key

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

 

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,

Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,

In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:

'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

 

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,

A home and a country should leave us no more!

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

 

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n 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!

The Pledge of Allegiance

I pledge allegiance to the flag

of the United States of America

and to the Republic

for which it stands,

one Nation, under God,

indivisible,

with Liberty and Justice for all.

The Story Of Our Dollar

Take out a one dollar bill and look at it. The one dollar bill you're looking at first came off the presses in 1957 in its present design. This so-called paper money is in fact a cotton and linen blend, with red and blue minute silk fibers running through it. It is actually material. We've all washed it without it falling apart. A special blend of ink is used, the contents we will never know. It is overprinted with symbols and then it is starched to make it water resistant and pressed to give it that nice crisp look. If you look on the front of the bill, you will see the United States Treasury Seal. On the top you will see the scales for the balance-a balanced budget. In the center you have a carpenter's T-square, a tool used for an even cut. Underneath is the Key to the United States Treasury. That's all pretty easy to figure out, but what is on the back of that dollar bill is something we should all know.

 If you turn the bill over, you will see two circles. Both circles, together, comprise the Great Seal of the United States. The First Continental Congress requested that Benjamin Franklin and a group of men come up with a Seal. It took them four years to accomplish this task and another two years to get it approved. If you look at the left hand circle, you will see a Pyramid. Notice the face is lighted and the western side is dark. This country was just beginning. We had not begun to explore the West or decided what we could do for Western Civilization. The Pyramid is un-capped, again signifying that we were not even close to being finished. Inside the capstone you have the all-seeing eye, and ancient symbol for divinity. It was Franklin's belief that one man couldn't do it alone, but a group of men, with the help of God, could do anything. "IN GOD WE TRUST" is on this currency.

 The Latin above the pyramid, ANNUIT COEPTIS, means "God has favored our undertaking." The Latin below the pyramid, NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM, means "a new order has begun." At the base of the pyramid is the Roman Numeral for 1776. If you look at the right-hand circle, and check it carefully, you will learn that it is on every National Cemetery in the United States. It is also on the Parade of Flags Walkway at the Bushnell, Florida National Cemetery and is the centerpiece of most hero's monuments. Slightly modified, it is the seal of the President of the United States and it is always visible whenever he speaks, yet so few know what the symbols mean.

The Bald Eagle was selected as a symbol for victory for two reasons: first, he is not afraid of a storm; he is strong and he is smart enough to soar above it. Secondly, he wears no material crown. We had just broken from the King of England. Also, notice the shield is unsupported. This country can now stand on its own. At the top of that shield you have a white bar signifying congress, a unifying factor. We were coming together as one nation. In the Eagle's beak you will read, "E PLURIBUS UNUM", meaning "one nation from many people." Above the Eagle you have thirteen stars representing the thirteen original colonies, and any clouds of misunderstanding rolling away. Again, we were coming together as one. Notice what the Eagle holds in his talons. He holds an olive branch and arrows. This country wants peace, but we will never be afraid to fight to preserve peace. The Eagle always wants to face the olive branch, but in time of war, his gaze turns toward the arrows.

They say that the number 13 is an unlucky number. This is almost a worldwide belief. You will usually never see a room numbered 13, or any hotels or motels with a 13th floor. But, think about this: 13 original colonies, 13 signers of the Declaration of Independence, 13 stripes on our flag, 13 steps on the Pyramid, 13 letters in the Latin above, 13 letters in "E Pluribus Unum", 13 stars above the Eagle, 13 plumes of feathers on each span of the Eagle's wing, 13 bars on that shield, 13 leaves on the olive branch, 13 fruits, and if you look closely, 13 arrows. And for minorities: the 13th Amendment.

I always ask people, "Why don't you know this?" Your children don't know this and their history teachers don't know this. Too may veterans have given up too much to ever let the meaning fade. Since the '60s, many veterans can remember coming home to an America that didn't care. Too many veterans never came home at all. Share the message, and be proud to live in a country that is worth fighting for.