News Type: 
President's Blog Date: 
Friday, July 2, 2021 Byline: 
Colonel David L. Coggins, USMC (Ret.)

Greetings FUMA family and friends,

Happy Birthday, America!

In 1814, the British attack on Fort McHenry was terrifying. A prisoner on a ship in the Baltimore harbor could see the bombardment of the fort and the large US flag. Through the rockets' red glare…our flag, was still there! Francis Scott Key relayed what he saw to the others below decks. The story was written into a song adopted as our National Anthem in 1931. How did the flag stay aloft with its base shaken so horribly? The bodies of fallen soldiers were placed together to hold up the pole and the flag. A little boy once asked his Grandfather, “Grandpa, in battle, who carries the flag?” The Grandfather rubbed his knee, scared from a wound in war and said, “we all did.” The little boy said, “Grandpa, when it’s my turn, I’ll carry the flag…and I won’t let it fall.”

Happy birthday to the country I love. In God we trust.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!” -- Psalm 33:12

Amen. God bless the USA. Happy birthday! 

Go FUMA! 

Best regards,
Colonel David L. Coggins, USMC (Ret.)
President
Fork Union Military Academy