170908- Flag's Daily Briefing

Our Flag's Daily Briefing
for Friday, September 8, 2017

The Beacon of Honor - Awakens Our Flag ... to Inform and Inspire Citizens ...

TODAY'S FLAG STATUS:

Across the USA, Our Flag flies at full staff.
[Click here to learn more about today's half-staff honorees and verify the latest flag status for every state (courtesy of FlagNotify.com)]


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TODAY'S REMINDER FROM OUR FLAG:
... the history of the Pledge of Allegiance ...

Students saying the Pledge of Allegiance on Flag Day 1899. Wow, what a strange looking flag salute back then ;) [public domain image]

On September 8, 1892, as part of a planned tribute to the 400th anniversary of Columbus discovering America, the Youth's Companion magazine published Francis Bellamy's "Pledge." It originally stated:
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

At the National Flag Conference in 1923, the Pledge was altered to say, "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Then in 1942, Congress approved and formally adopted the Pledge and requested citizens place their right hand over their heart instead of the doing the original, now Nazi-like, 'Bellamy salute.'
And, finally, on Flag Day in 1954, President Eisenhower insisted and Congress approved the addition of "under God" to the Pledge.

So, the Pledge of Allegiance version we state today, was established in 1954 and states:
"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."

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TODAY'S COMBATANT KILLED IN ACTION (KIA) COMMEMORATION
powered by:

Army Pfc. Jason L. Sparks
Died September 8, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom
Private First Class Jason Sparks, 19, of Monroeville, Ohio; assigned to 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, Camp Casey, Korea;
killed Sept. 8 by enemy fire in Fallujah, Iraq.

[summary courtesy of Military Times' Honor the Fallen website]

We honor and thank Jason Sparks for defending our freedoms and fighting to liberate the lives of others.
Go to this Military Times 'Honor the Fallen' article to honor him and learn about his life and family

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[Serving up a slice of Americana]

[public domain image]

[ On this date, September 8, 1883, the Northern Pacific Railway was completed. This railway was started 19 years earlier, when Congress chartered the Northern Pacific Railway Company on July 2, 1864 with the goals of:
1) connecting the Great Lakes with Puget Sound on the Pacific,
2) opening vast new lands for farming, ranching, lumbering and mining, and
3) linking Washington and Oregon to the rest of the country.
Congress granted the railroad a potential 60 million acres of land in exchange for building rail transportation to an undeveloped territory. ]

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Now, go be a good citizen!!!

Content Sources & Credits:
Sources: Click here to see our Sources for content research
Credits: Unless otherwise noted here, photos displayed each day are public domain images, pictures by Sean Sweeney, or used by permission.

To learn more about the Beacon of Honor nonprofit project, go to http://BeaconOfHonor.org
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