pre-Pledge Tribute

[ Note: Do not read aloud any text with [ brackets ] around it. Only read the text in blue. We recommend 3 speakers lead and read aloud the 3 parts of the pre-Pledge ceremony. Before starting this Pre-Pledge tribute, CLICK TO CHECK 'TODAY'S FLAG STATUS'. If your state is at half-staff, memorize the honoree's name and job/position. ]

[ SPEAKER 1 - read blue text only]

Good morning / afternoon / evening, __(insert name of your group - like "Heritage Elementary" or "Rotary Club" or "Girl Scout Troop")__
Welcome to this week's
Flag Steward Pre-Pledge Tribute
[ for the week of April 15 - 21 ]

You're invited to follow or review later the pre-Pledge Tribute script and images at FlagSteward.org

Today's Flag Status

In our state, Old Glory flies at ___(say "full" or "half")___ staff today.
CLICK TO CHECK TODAY'S FLAG STATUS

[ End it here or read the following sentence if there is a half-staff in your state today ]
[ Optional - only say if your state is at half-staff today: ]
[ Optional = The U.S. Flag at half-staff in our state honors ___(say full name of honoree and say public servant job / position - such as police officer, state rep, etc.)___. ]

[ SPEAKER 2 - read blue text only ]

THIS WEEK'S FALLEN PATRIOTS TO HONOR:
[Died in the line of duty during the week of April 8 - 14]

Thankfully, this week, there are no fallen military service members from the Global War on Terrorism.
[ See our #NeverForgottenFriday (April 20) tribute for more details about recent fallen military. ]

[ pictured from left to right = Officer Sean Gannon, Patrolman Kevin Crossley, and Officer Keith Earle == Image courtesy of Officer Down Memorial Page / odmp.org ]

This week, there are 3 law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty -
Sean Gannon in Massachusetts, Kevin Crossley in New York, and Keith Earle in Alabama.
Please, pray for these fallen officers and their families.

[See our #EndOfWatchWednesday (Apr. 18) tribute for more details about these heroic Law Enforcement Officers.]
[To leave a message and review the most detailed account of these law enforcement officers' line of duty death, please visit the
Officer Down Memorial Page]
[This Fallen Peace Officers feature is powered by the:]

[ SPEAKER 3 - read blue text only ]

THIS WEEK'S HISTORICAL REMINDER FROM OUR FLAG:

[ Paul Revere's ride = public domain image ]

Today is / Monday was ... "Patriots' Day" - a state holiday in 4 states to celebrate the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolutionary War, on April 19th, 1775.
On the night before these battles, Paul Revere, and others, rode horseback to warn and prepare colonials to defend themselves against British forces.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem about this historical moment, called "Paul Revere's Ride".

CLOSE YOUR EYES. YES, EVERYONE CLOSE YOUR EYES LISTEN CLOSELY AND IMAGINE YOU'RE THERE FOR PAUL REVERE'S RIDE.
[Have students read the poem or play this engaging recording by Eric Metaxas]

Paul Revere’s Ride
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 – 1882)
Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five:
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

He said to his friend, “If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch
Of the North-Church-tower, as a signal-light,–
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country-folk to be up and to arm.”

Then he said “Good night!” and with muffled oar
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,
Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war:
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon, like a prison-bar,
And a huge black hulk, that was magnified
By its own reflection in the tide.

Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street
Wanders and watches with eager ears,
Till in the silence around him he hears
The muster of men at the barrack door,
The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,
And the measured tread of the grenadiers
Marching down to their boats on the shore.

Then he climbed to the tower of the church,
Up the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,
To the belfry-chamber overhead,
And startled the pigeons from their perch
On the sombre rafters, that round him made
Masses and moving shapes of shade,–
By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,
To the highest window in the wall,
Where he paused to listen and look down
A moment on the roofs of the town,
And the moonlight flowing over all.

Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,
In their night-encampment on the hill,
Wrapped in silence so deep and still
That he could hear, like a sentinel’s tread,
The watchful night-wind, as it went
Creeping along from tent to tent,
And seeming to whisper, “All is well!”
A moment only he feels the spell
Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread
Of the lonely belfry and the dead;
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent
On a shadowy something far away,
Where the river widens to meet the bay, --
A line of black, that bends and floats
On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats.

Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride,
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride,
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse’s side,
Now gazed on the landscape far and near,
Then impetuous stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle-girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry-tower of the old North Church,
As it rose above the graves on the hill,
Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.
And lo! as he looks, on the belfry’s height,
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight
A second lamp in the belfry burns!

A hurry of hoofs in a village-street,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,
And beneath from the pebbles, in passing, a spark
Struck out by a steed that flies fearless and fleet:
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of a nation was riding that night;
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.

He has left the village and mounted the steep,
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;
And under the alders, that skirt its edge,
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.

It was twelve by the village clock
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.
He heard the crowing of the cock,
And the barking of the farmer’s dog,
And felt the damp of the river-fog,
That rises when the sun goes down.

It was one by the village clock,
When he galloped into Lexington.
He saw the gilded weathercock
Swim in the moonlight as he passed,
And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare,
Gaze at him with a spectral glare,
As if they already stood aghast
At the bloody work they would look upon.

It was two by the village clock,
When be came to the bridge in Concord town.
He heard the bleating of the flock,
And the twitter of birds among the trees,
And felt the breath of the morning breeze
Blowing over the meadows brown.
And one was safe and asleep in his bed
Who at the bridge would be first to fall,
Who that day would be lying dead,
Pierced by a British musket-ball.

You know the rest. In the books you have read,
How the British Regulars fired and fled,–
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farmyard-wall,
Chasing the red-coats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.

So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,–
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo forevermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

YOU MAY OPEN YOUR EYES NOW.
THANKS FOR LISTENING AND WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR RIDE WITH PAUL REVERE.

[ The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere = painting by Grant Wood - public domain image ]

via GIPHY

Now, please, stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Place your hand upon your heart and recall the midnight riders who prepared colonials for a victorious start to the Revolutionary War.

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END OF CEREMONY
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In God We Trust
(Official motto of the United States of America)

The U.S. Flag Code:
provides Our Flag's Rules and Regulations

[HIGHLIGHTS OF: The U.S. Flag Code stating how citizens should conduct themselves during this ceremony is below.]

Title 36, Chapter 10 PATRIOTIC CUSTOMS
National anthem; Star-Spangled Banner, conduct during playing:
During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. Men not in uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should render the military salute at the first note of the anthem and retain this position until the last note. When the flag is not displayed, those present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would if the flag were displayed there.
Note: A new law was passed on October 30, 2008 that authorizes veterans and active-duty military not in uniform can now render the military-style hand salute during the playing of the national anthem. This publication is currently being updated to reflect the new law.

Pledge of Allegiance to the flag; manner of delivery:
The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, "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.", should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not in uniform men should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute.

Thanks for participating in today's
Flag Steward Pre-Pledge Ceremony
Now, go be a good citizen!!!