Memorial day observance

With Memorial Day on Monday, I was thinking about the sacrifices that our service men and women along with their families make. I was also thinking about the music I would be playing in July for sacrament meetings. I decided that the National Anthem on the 4th was more than appropriate.

I was thinking about those individuals who want the "under God" taken out of the pledge or "In God We Trust" removed from our currency. These people don't understand that this nation was built on religious freedom. Our founding fathers were very religious, god-fearing people.

When Francis Scott Key wrote the lyric for the National Anthem he was truly inspired. We always sing only the first first of it, but there is so much more involved than just the "fight." The third verse is my favorite of all. It goes like this:

Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand

Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heavn' rescued land
Praise the Pow'r 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!

It makes me feel to honor all those who've served this country and especially those given the ultimate sacrifice.