I would like for you to know that I
believe that if our flag could speak
these are the words that it would say
ladies and gentlemen I now present Old
Glory
I am the flag of the United States of
America my name is Old Glory i flattop
the world's tallest buildings and I
stand watch in America's halls of
Justice
I fly majestically across the great
institutions of learning and I stand
guard with the greatest military power
in the world look up and see me
I stand for peace truth honor and
justice I stand for freedom
I am confident I am brave I am proud and
I am ready when I am flown with my
fellow banners my head is held a little
higher my arms are loose true except for
my god I bow to no one I am recognized
all over the world
I am sovereign I am saluted I am
respected I am honored I am loved and
yet I am feared I have fought in every
battle of every war for more than 200
years some of these battles include
Gettysburg Shiloh Appomattox n1 Hill the
churches of France the Aragon forest
Anzio Rome the beaches of Normandy Guam
Okinawa Korea kiss on Saigon Vietnam
Afghanistan
waiting area and souls of other places
long forgotten by all except those that
were there with me I know because I was
there I lived my special operations
forces in the quiet of the night and at
the tip of the sphere
I saw them fight fearlessly throughout
the globe every day of the year I
watched over them even through the
casualties of desert one and they still
loved to me Iwo Jima I was dirty battle
worn entirely by soldiers and my sailors
my airmen my Coast Guardsmen my Marines
they all cheered me and I was so very
proud I was at Ground Zero in New York
City on September the 11th as Hamid
Lieber Maddox of tact America
I was raised from the ashes of once
proud buildings by brave firefighters
these were heroes who risk their lives
to save others showing all that America
although bloody will never be beaten
because those would be stormy cannot win
rely on the similar freedom of one
nation under God indivisible with
liberty and justice for all
I have been soiled I've been burned I've
been torn and I have been trampled on in
the streets of my own country and when
it is done by those who I have served
with in battle it hurts but hear me
today when I say I will overcome because
I am strong I have slipped the surly
bonds of Earth and from my vantage point
on the moon
then what over the uncharted new
frontiers of space and I have been that
silent witness to all of America's
finest hours but my finest hour comes
when my stripes are torn into strips to
be used that's bandages to cover the
wounds of my fellow comrades on fulfill
the battle also when I fly half mass to
honor my soldiers and my sailors by
airmen my Coast Guardsman my Marines but
most importantly when I'm placed into
the trembling arms of a grieving mother
at the gravesite of her phone and son or
fallen daughter it's so very proud my
name is Old Glory long way I wave dear
God
long way away
[Music]
[Applause]
you