A Star-Spangled Celebration-- Part 2

There was a fire works display Saturday and Friiday, President Obama visited Fort McHenry and saw an original manuscript of the poem.

This weekend is the anniversary of the bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812's Battle of Baltimore on Sept. 13-14, 1814.  At dawn on the 14th, Francis Scott Key was pretty proud to see the U.S. flag flting high and proud over the fort.  Being an amateur poet, he was moved to put his feelings down on paper.

Key was on a British ship at the time, part of an American delegation negotiating for the release of a prisoner.  He and the others were kept aboard a British ship until after the battle as they had learned of British plans.  They were allowed to return to Baltimore on Sept. 14 and he wrote the poem "Defence of Fort McHenry," which he published on Sept. 20, 1814.

And Jose Was Never the Same Afterwards.  --Brock-Perry