Writings in the Sand

On This Day in History

On This Day in History

On March 3, 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed the congressional act that made The Star Spangled Banner the official national anthem of the United States of America. Since then it’s been the cause of many a case of vocal strain, laryngitis, earache and broken glass.

All kidding aside, I love The Star Spangled Banner. I tear up whenever it is played and sing along. Considering I have absolutely no revolutionary patriots in my ancestry - only loyalists - and my parents were Canadian and Canadian-adjacent, I am a staunchly patriotic American citizen. Worse than that, I am proud of it and resist efforts to shame me for it.

Oh yes, I do love The Star Spangled Banner. It makes me wish I had more of a vocal range, but perhaps it wouldn't be so special and meaningful if I didn't have to put in an effort to sing it. It's a sacrifice that I and those within earshot of me make for our country.