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Chorus
*Singing of the National Anthem*
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Narrator 1:
The history of our fraternity has been wrapped around the American flag since the founding of our nation. Just as the history of our democracy has been forged by generations of Freemasons who dedicated their lives to serve in whatever way they were called upon, to ensure that our country's flag would continue to proudly wave, keeping that sacred commitment has led to over 200 years of remarkable achievements in a deeply rooted and still flourishing bond between Freemasonry and our American flag.
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Narrator 2:
Principles of Freemasonry are really tied to patriotism, and the flag's a part of that. It's part of our ritual, and it's a part of our heritage, part of being a Mason.
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Brother Robert Johnston, 33°:
We pledge allegiance to it, and we will fight for it if necessary. That's just a piece of cloth, but it's a meaningful piece of cloth.
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Brother Mansour Hetefi, 32°:
This country was founded by giants of history who were mostly Freemasons and they twin this in every thread of our government, and the flag was a symbol of what they did.
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Zachary J. Shaw:
It's a symbol of the sacrifices that people before us made. It's symbolic of the establishment of a new idea, a grand experiment, democracy.
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Narrator 3:
The flag came from the hearts of the Masons involved in helping create the first American flag. It espouses everything that we hold dear in our lives. It's our colors, our emblem.
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Narrator 1:
Many people know that early Patriots, such as George Washington, Paul Revere, and Benjamin Franklin were Masons, but fewer are aware that it was Brother Francis Hopkinson who designed the original 13 star flag that would become the
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Narrator 1: emblem of a new republic and the basis for the many flags that would follow as the young nation expanded across an entire continent.
At the beginning of the 19th century Masons Merryweather Lewis and William Clark embarked upon their legendary expedition to learn more about the vast regions of the uncharted West. The information they brought back led to the Louisiana purchase,
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Narrator 1: which tripled the country's size. A number of Freemasons served on the front lines, helping to secure these new American territories.
From Old Hickory Andrew Jackson, who commanded US troops at the Battle of New Orleans to Davy Crockett and William Travis, heroes of the Alamo and the father of Texas, Sam Houston. Their efforts would lead to new states and new stars on the flag during the terms of the many Masons who were presidents in the 1800.
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Narrator 1: 20 under James Monroe, 28 by the time of James K. Polk, and 33 under James Buchanan in 1859. In just 80 years, the United States had expanded from 13 colonies on the Atlantic coast all the way to Oregon and California from sea to shining sea.
But there was a deepening rift that would challenge the very survival of the nation,
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Narrator 1: as the southern secession of 1861 tore the union apart, and thousands of Masons from famous generals like William Tecumseh Sherman, Stonewall Jackson, and Robert E. Lee, to common soldiers, were fighting against their own countrymen, sometimes even Brother against Brother. Many of them paid the ultimate price.
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Narrator 1: In the midst of this terrible war, Union General and Mason Daniel Butterfield arranged an old Scottish tattoo into a new bugle call, which would soon be adopted by both North and South as a tribute to their fallen comrades.
There are also many recorded instances of Masons on each side, reaching across the field of battle to allow relief to be provided for their injured Brothers.
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Ill. Brother Sammy Lee Davis, 33°:
There were instances where you had a Brother down on the battlefield and they would say a few words that related to our Masonic oath and the other side would cease fire and allow the North or the South to go out and pick up their wounded off the battlefield, and then they would salute one another and then go back to doing their job.
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Narrator 1:
Justice taps have remained an essential part of our military tradition. Masons have continued to honor the tenant of Brotherly love even during battle, exemplified by the actions of Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Sammy Davis while serving in Vietnam.
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Ill. Brother Sammy Lee Davis, 33°
Well, with a broken back and all shot up, I carried three of my Brothers back across the river.
I don't think I could have hated enough to carry three of my Brothers at one time, but you can love that much, and that's what gave me the strength to carry my Brothers back. The Brotherly love that I have in my heart came from what my grandfather and my daddy taught me through the Masonic Lodge. The Medal of Honor, to me, is part of the obligation that I had then and still do, owe my Brothers.
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Narrator 1:
At the end of the Civil War, the assassination of President Lincoln catapulted brother Andrew Johnson into the Oval Office, where he was charged with the task of pulling the fractured nation back together. Less than 20 years later, the country had entered an era of industrialization and renewed westward expansion.
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Narrator 1: By the time Mason James Garfield took office in 1881, there were five new stars on the flag. 38 in all. The turn of a new century brought a fresh energy, a spirit of innovation, and a renewed sense of Devotion to Country embodied in the music of Brother John Phillip. Who as conductor of the US Marine Band, wrote marches that have stirred the American spirit for generations.
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Narrator 1: Theodore Roosevelt, war hero, rancher, naturalist and Mason was the first president to address poverty and inequality in America. President Roosevelt also fought for fair business practices, developed our national parks and opened new worlds to commerce by championing the building of the Panama Canal. During the term of his successor Brother William Howard Taft, New Mexico and Arizona became the final two contiguous United States as the 48 star flag was unfurled for the first time, it was under this new flag that American troops marched off to World War I led by Brother General John Pershing.
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Narrator 1: The rallying cry for these troops and for an entire country, sending an army across the Atlantic for the first time was composed by Mason George M. Cohan. At the same time, a young soldier at Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York wrote a victory anthem that would become one of our most beloved patriotic songs.
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Narrator 1: As a Mason, Irving Berlin would likely be delighted that God Bless America is still sung in Masonic Lodges across the Land.
October 1929 brought an abrupt halt to the optimism of the previous decades. By 1933, and the election of Brother Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the American can-do spirit was severely frayed. During the first of his four terms as the nation's longest serving president, FDR was challenged to develop programs to help our economy survive the Great Depression.
Eight years later, he had to lead the country into World War II in response to the surprise Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.
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Brother Robert Johnston, 33°:
That was the first time the United States was ever attacked physically. It wasn't gonna happen, that the United States was gonna stand by and let somebody tear down our flag. And at that time, in 1941, all of us just joined up and did our thing.
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Narrator 1:
Bob Johnston stormed the beaches of Iwo Jima as a corporal. After 33 days of intense combat, the Marines had secured the island, and Bob was awarded a field commission as a Second Lieutenant.
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Brother Robert Johnston, 33°
It was one of the bloodiest battles that the Marine Corps ever had.
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Narrator 1:
The image of our troops raising the American flag on Iwo Jima marked a turning point in the Pacific campaign. It has become a lasting symbol of the US commitment to preserve and protect democracy.
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Brother Robert Johnston, 33°: I was very proud to look back and see that flag. You go out there and battle like that, you feel, that's my flag going up there and I'm very proud to be a part of making the United States safe.
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Narrator 1: Other Masons involved in the Allied victory included Jimmy Doolittle, who led a daring raid on Tokyo in the early days of the War. General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of American Forces in the South Pacific and President Harry Truman. But the action that perhaps best represents a core tenant of Freemasonry came shortly after the war when a Secretary of State General George C. Marshall created the Marshall Plan. A $13 billion, four year American commitment to deliver food and materials, rebuild infrastructure, and revive the economy of a starving and shattered European continent.
Brother Marshall was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his effort, which enshrined the image of America, providing relief to people who need it. A tradition that continues to this day.
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Zachary J. Shaw: I served in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, helping the people in that area get back on their feet after the tsunamis. In other places of the world, there are folks who see the flag as a superpower to be feared.
But in my experience with relief aid, the folks that viewed the flag from that perspective saw it as a symbol of kindness, and it's been my honor to deliver that to those people. In the Marine Corps, you're part of a brotherhood and you're all working towards a common objective, and oftentimes that is in service to the nation and doing good, and that is exactly what Freemasons do.
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Narrator 1: With the addition of Alaska and Hawaii in the early 1960s, our flag reached its full 50 stars. By the time the decade was over, this flag would ascend to a place where no human had set foot before. The whole world looked up to see Colonel Buzz Aldrin placing an American flag on the moon. Though few knew it at the time, Brother Aldrin was also carrying this Scottish Rite flag on his historic journey.
While our flag has always been held dear by generations of Americans, it has had a special meaning for new citizens. From the earliest days of our nation, people from all over the world have struggled to overcome sometimes unimaginable obstacles to be able to live in a country where they could freely pursue their dreams and know they would be guaranteed the right to fully participate in our democratic process.
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Brother Mansour Hetefi, 32°: When I was made a naturalized citizen, I was handed this flag, and I still do keep that and treasure that flag that they gave me. A lot of people take it for granted, but for us who are Americans by choice, the flag meant freedom, justice, equality, no matter what ethnic backgrounds and what nationality or race, we are one and the same. [12:50] In Freemasonry, the same things come to our mind, our principles, our institutional requirements, and the way we are taught to live our life. And in all that, we never take our eyes off our flag.
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WIlliam G. Sizemore: And looking back at the long line of Masons who have supported our country gives me strength. Then hopefully I can pass that on. I would hope that the people who are following me in the Masonic fraternity will feel that sense of tradition, that sense of responsibility to our country, and will continue to respect the flag, salute the flag, and pledge allegiance to the flag.
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Narrator:
As we salute over two centuries of Masons who have joined the effort to ensure that our country's flag would continue to proudly wave, let us not only celebrate their deeds, but also honor their ideals which remain at the core of both our fraternity and our nation, by always observing our obligation to serve our fellow citizens, our communities, and our flag.
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Speaker: No man can worthily serve in the ranks of the Grand Army of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite unless his heart thrills to the sentiment of a lofty patriotism, which will express itself in loyal obedience to his country's laws, as well as in response to his country's needs. It is not given to all men to bear arms for the nation's defense. But every man may cherish his country's flag with a devoted love, may support his country's laws with a willing obedience, and may so live day by day that the commonwealth is prospered through his industry, established through his fidelity, and honored through his integrity. Patriotism thus founded and secured, gives assurance of peace and happiness within our border, and is a harbinger of that more glorious time when love of country shall be joined to love of humanity and the Scottish Rite’s standards shall rise in peaceful triumph over a worldwide brotherhood. So mote it be.
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Chorus: *Singing of Grand Ole Flag*
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