Sidebar: OrangeVerse (LXV)

As I mentioned in Friday's OrangeVerse, the president spent time during his July 4th speech recognizing some American heroes and honoring different American flags with relevance to the heroic acts or the times during which the acts occured. Here are his comments.

The Civil War

Few heroes remind us of these truths more than William Carney, who escaped slavery to become a Union soldier in the Civil War, which was a very big, big deal at the time.

On the front lines of battle he saw a comrade struck down by enemy fire while carrying the Stars and Stripes. And Sergeant Carney dove to the ground to keep the flag from touching the mud. He didn't want to have it touch the ground. He didn't want to have it touch the mud. He wanted it to be perfect.

He raised it high above the field and was shot four times. They thought he was gone, but he kept moving forward. He loved our country. He loved our flag before he returned to camp and announced, "Boys, the old flag never touched the ground."

And he became the first African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. He got the Congressional Medal of Honor, and he was the first African American, and he was some man. They've written stories about him. He was something special.

The Vietnam War

With us tonight to celebrate this forward march of freedom is another Medal of Honor recipient, Colonel Paris Davis, whose courage won eternal glory in Vietnam. He helped lead a surprise attack on 100 enemy combatants. They said he was finished. His whole group was finished, and despite multiple life-threatening wounds saved the lives of his fellow soldiers.

And this evening he stands to salute the only flag of its kind, the one that was draped over the casket of President Abraham Lincoln in Independence Hall. Thank you very much, Greg.

He looks better than I do. He looks great, and he's brave. Because of heroes like these, our flag will always be a symbol of liberty and justice for all. Colonel Davis, thank you very much. Great man. Great man. Thank you.

The Wild Wild West

American grit, boldness and daring forged heroes like Davy Crockett, Wyatt Earp, Annie Oakley, Teddy Roosevelt and the legend of the Wild West, Buffalo Bill Cody.

These were great, powerful people whose incredible grandchildren happen to be with us tonight, and they stand alongside one of the first American flags ever to fly over our expanding nation. It was carried West just as Lewis and Clark began their journey in 1803.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Great to have you. Great to have you to honor this audacious and indomitable soul of America.

Historic American Flags

We also have the first flag ever to fly over one of the greatest architectural feats of all time, a thing called the Brooklyn Bridge, one of the most beautiful bridges anywhere in the world built a long time ago.

To its right, the banner that flew atop our flagship after America's Navy sank the Spanish fleet to the bottom of the Manila Bay, one of the greatest naval victories in history. Much like our recent victory by sinking the entire Iranian Navy, 159 ships to the bottom of the sea, all done in just a moment's time. Happened very quickly. We have the greatest military anywhere in the world.

And next to it, we also have the flag that was given to that immortable, just a fantastic immortal Rough Rider, the one and only, and I was at the museum the other day at its opening, Theodore Roosevelt, when he returned triumphant from Cuba, printed with the words, "Welcome home, Colonel Roosevelt." It was a victory of San Juan Hill. He was a great gentleman.

The Attack on Pearl Harbor 

Ken Schubring was 19 years old when he survived the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. After enemy planes sank ships like the USS Arizona, he resolved that he would help America strike back and win. He wanted them to strike back and win.

Flying B-29s in the Pacific, Ken fought from the first day to the very last. He was in the war right from the first day, and he went to the last day, and all the way to the enemy's... And he went to the last day and all the way to the enemy's unconditional surrender. We got an unconditional surrender. He was there at 104 years old and looking really good. Captain Schubring is here tonight and he is saluting the flag that went down with the Arizona at Pearl Harbor, but was raised back up with the help of some unbelievable American patriots. It's a symbol of American defiance, please. Thank you Captain. Thank you, Captain.

Great job. Thank you very much. You have very good genes. That's his son. His son's going to be around a long time. Thank you very much, Captain. 

World War II 

On D-Day in World War II, Navy Lieutenant Arthur Rose commanded 36 landing craft as part of the largest naval armada in history. Recalling that site he wrote home to his parents. What a country we are at 107 years old. Lieutenant Rose is here to salute one of our nation's most prized possessions. The flag that flew aboard the first landing craft on D-Day and led the first Americans onto the beaches of Normandy to liberate Europe and defeat Nazi fascism forever. Lieutenant Rose, you are an inspiration to this beautiful crowd and we thank you very much. Amazing man. 107. It's 107. 

On Iwo Jima in the Pacific, the Marines faced some of the most brutal combat in the history of warfare. They shed their blood for every inch of mountain that they reached. And when they reached the summit and raised the Stars and Stripes for all to see, it was so special to everybody there. Everybody there and everybody watching. They couldn't believe it. It wasn't supposed to happen. With us today is one of the last survivors of that battle, 101-year-old Marine Corporal Don Graves.

And he's here to salute that famous flag he saw rise in the glory of Iwo Jima 81 years ago and you've all seen that flag many times.

The War on Communism 

Tonight, we proudly thank veterans of the war on communism, including Marine Corporal Pat Finn and Private First Class Rudy Meekins, who fought at the famed Battle of Chosen Reservoir in Korea. That was a rough one. Thank you. Pat fought in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.

He had five against him and he was one. And as you can see, he's around to talk about it. And Rudy was wounded four times but never stopped shooting and he never stopped moving forward. And also with us is veteran Sonny Ray, who fought heroically against an enemy force 10 times his unit's size and earned a tremendously deserved Silver Star. 

Tonight, they salute one of the very first 50-star flags to fly above the field of battle. This was about the beginning of the 50. And right next to it is one of the last flags from Checkpoint Charlie, very famous place on the Berlin Wall, where American freedom finally brought communism crashing down to an end. Thank you so much. You are really very special.

Thank you. Thank you very much. The Stars and Stripes cast the hammer and sickle into oblivion before and we will do it again if necessary. I don't think it's going to be necessary. I think people have learned. They've learned what to do and how to handle it and we are going to handle it very well. So, gentlemen, I want to thank you very much. Amazing people. Amazing men. Thank you. How about that, huh? Isn't that great? What an honor it is to be with them. Think of it, 107. That's up there, but hopefully, he's got 20 good years left. Through the generations, Americans have never stopped striving to lift humanity to new heights.

Flight and Space 

In 1903, the Wright Brothers from Ohio fulfilled the age-old dream of mankind to fly. That's right. They're from Ohio. Great state. And within 66 years of inventing the airplane, Americans planted our flag on the moon. Just three months ago, we sent American astronauts back to the far side of the moon, and this time, they flew further from Earth than anyone has ever flown before. And here they are. So, tonight we're joined by that crew of NASA, Artemis. You know the crew, everybody. Artemis II and everybody watched. Isn't that amazing? They became very famous. Everybody watched. I was watching, I don't know what it was, that one got the attention of everybody.

And along with the last man to walk on the moon, Apollo 17 astronaut Jack Schmidt. Thank you, Jack. You look like you could be with them, Jack. You look very good. You look very good, Jack. Thank you very much. What a job. Everybody was watching. I was with a group of people that normally wouldn't be watching and we're having a big dinner and they all said, "We want to turn on. We want to watch Artemis II." A lot of people said, "What is that?" By the end of the evening they knew it was amazing. And along with Jared, where is Jared? He's so great. He's running NASA. What a job he's done. So, I want to thank you all. Thank you very much. Great job.

So, these champions of flight stand this evening beside the flag flown on the Wright Brothers' airplane piloted by Orville Wright. It's the exact flag. Very historic. And they are honored to be here. They told me today they were really amazed to be here with that flag. That's a very special flag if you're in the world of flying aircraft. So, congratulations to everybody. Fantastic job. Very proud of you. And I have a special gift for these patriots this morning on America's 250th birthday. A new flag was flown above the United States Capitol. And tonight I presented to you to soon be planted by American astronauts on their upcoming return to the moon.

And in addition to that, I gave them and all of the great heroes that you saw up on stage tonight and a few others that couldn't quite make the stage. I gave them a very special medal from the White House. So, it's an honor.

Families of the Fallen 

We are honored to be joined by 11 Gold Star family members, the Gold Star Family. That is one of the great tributes. It's one of the great honors.

A tough honor. There's nothing tougher than that, but these are amazing people. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Come on up. They went through a lot. Thank you very much. And that special person is looking up there and looking down at mom and dad, husband, wife, but they're looking down with great pride. You know that. You know that. And we want to thank you for being here. Thank you very much. And we have medals for you backstage. I brought them. I thought I'd be handing them out about two hours ago, three hours ago, but we're going to be backstage and we have beautiful medals for you, for your family from the White House. Thank you very much everybody. We love you.

The Star-Spangled Banner 

In 1944, a mother and her daughter huddled in their house in Nazi-occupied Belgium and prayed desperately for their country to be freed. They wanted freed. As they waited, they found scraps of fabric and stitched together a homemade American flag. It's beautiful, but homemade. On the day they were finally liberated, and that's what the word is, liberated. They gave it to an American soldier as a gift. 

Little did they know that that soldier's great-grandfather was none other than the author of our Star-Spangled Banner, Francis Scott Key. And tonight, the next generation of the Key family is with us. Thank you very much, please. Thank you. Major Kyle Key has spent 23 years in the US Army, highly respected. And this evening he proudly salutes the old flag that was made by the Belgian woman so beautifully and who knew that America means hope and freedom.

What do you think of his team's approach to his America at 250 speech, to have the historic flags on display and to attach them to specific people or teams of people?  I think it's one of the better things they've put together, in part because it kept his rambling and the famous 'weave' to a minimuim on a night when it was importatn to do that. 

Oh sure, it's possible that the bobbing and weaving was limited by the lateness of the hour, the size of the crowd after the weather delay, and the fact that almost everyone there was more interested in the fireworks than the speech, but that he and his handlers rose to the occasion is a good thing.  

OrangeVerse (LXV): America's 250th Birthday

The weather-delayed main event on July 4th in DC was the detonation and launch of some 850,000 fireworks, the most bigly fireworks display (for entertainment purposes, anyway) in our nation's 250 years, maybe longer. 

Preceding that? A speech by the FOTUS; fortunately, the weather not only delayed his appearance, but shortened it to an almost tolerable 40 minutes, compared to the threatened dictator-like hours-long ramble.

Trump's speech featured heroes, patriotic imagery, and villains. The heroes, which I'll feature in a Sidebar, were impressive. The patriotism and the villains are where I found the poetry. Note that these are all his words, but not all of his words - it's not a transcript. Rather, it's my re-punctuated capture of his main themes.  

Free Verse, 250 Years in the Making

This country is the home of freedom. 

This is the land of liberty, 

and this is a flag

 that's the banner of the most extraordinary, 

most exceptional, most incredible nation 

ever to exist on the face of the earth.

 

And we're doing better now than 

we've ever done before.

No people have done more good, 

shown more courage, 

made more progress, 

righted more injustice or 

achieved more greatness 

than you, 

the American people.

For 250 years, the United 

States of America has been 

the hope, the promise, the light, and the glory 

among all of the 

nations of the world. 

All over the world 

they try and be like us. 

Nobody can be like us. 

Here on our National Mall, we're celebrating 

freedom's triumph over tyranny, 

liberty's conquest over oppression

 and the enduring victory of 

the American spirit 

from the July 4th, 1776 to July 4th, 2026. 

Big dates. That's big dates. Two big ones.

And tonight our country

is stronger, freer, richer, safer, 

and prouder than ever before.

But it all started 

with the miracle of history that lives 

forever in the heart of every single patriot.

In Philadelphia, our founding fathers 

summoned the courage of giants 

and the wisdom of centuries 

to boldly proclaim these timeless truths. 

They declared that all men are created equal.

That they are endowed with sacred, 

unalienable rights by the hand of our creator.

And that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

 

In signing their names to the roster of freedom, 

those 56 patriots put everything at risk, 

stepped onto the stage of destiny and 

seized a victory for the ages. 

And that's what it was. 

And this is an evening for the ages, 

I believe. This is something very special. 

This is bigger than if we didn't have the lightning blaring. 

We had lightning blaring, but this is bigger. 

Little more inconvenient, but it's bigger. 

I think in its own way 

it's more beautiful.

From the beginning, 

we were a nation that lived 

by the motto victory or death, 

and live free or die.

One out of every 100 

Americans gave their lives 

in the fight for independence 

to remind us of who these heroes were 

and what they gave us.

 These are the real flags.

These are flags that have seen a lot. 

These were the Stars and Stripes 

that flew triumphant when the British waved 

the white flag of surrender at Yorktown. 

That was a big surrender. 

Nobody thought that was possible.

They were the greatest power of the world,

and they surrendered, and that was the beginning.

Ever since, the entire world has been on notice

 that Americans will never let anyone 

take our freedom away. 

Won't happen.

And all these talks 

from the communists, 

they haven't got a chance. 

Not even a chance.

We don't want 

communists 

in our country.

Never worked, 

and it never will work. 

Americans must never forget 

that we are a historic and

 heroic people with a 

heroic spirit and a 

heroic purpose 

on this beautiful 

earth of ours.

We are 

made 

of the 

courage 

and the fire 

and the flesh 

and the blood 

of the best and 

the bravest people

this world has ever 

produced. 

Our founders not only won 

our liberty, they secured it 

with the most righteous 

political document

 ever conceived. It's called the 

Constitution of the United States. 

Very special.

And it's 

because of their 

genius that we remain

 the finest people on the planet 

after 250 years.

Unlike so many 

others in the world, 

in this country, 

we have freedom of speech, 

freedom of religion, 

equal justice under the law, 

although I wasn't treated that well, 

but we won't get into that.

 And the right to keep and bear arms. 

And for the almost six years 

that I was president,

I guarded very, 

very powerfully 

your Second Amendment, 

and they didn't do a thing to it, 

and it was not easy. 

But we guard your 

Second Amendment. 

We guard it very, very 

strongly and cautiously.

Across the generations 

Americans have 

fought, 

bled 

and 

died 

not just to secure 

those rights, 

but to expand them 

to citizens 

of every 

race, 

religion, 

color 

and creed 

because we 

are one people. 

We are 

one family.

And as our 

Declaration of Independence 

tells us, we are all made 

in the image of 

one Almighty God.

And a communist 

will never say that. 

Americans expanded

the blessings of freedom, 

and we have never stopped expanding 

our ambitions and our dreams. 

We had the American dream. 

We never had the American dream, 

however, like we have it right now. 

The American dream is 

back, very strong, 

beautiful.

Our rise

 to being the world's strongest 

and most powerful nation was no accident 

of history. We rebuilt our military in my first term. 

We use it a little bit in our... Well, actually, I should say 

third term, but I won't do that 

because I don't want any controversy.

But we use it and 

we've had tremendous success. 

You look at Venezuela,

 you look at Iran, 

we wiped it out, 

wiped out their military.

Americans 

crossed the Great Plains, 

scaled the Rockies, we just tamed 

the wilderness and conquered the frontier 

and built the empire, it's called the Empire of Liberty. 

We laid down the railroads, raised up the skyscrapers, 

those beautiful skyscrapers and dug out the Panama Canal, 

considered the eighth wonder of the world, 

which everyone said was an impossible thing to do. 

And by the way, 38,000 Americans died to

give us one of the greatest engineering feats of all time

 the Panama Canal.

This was the unstoppable spirit that created the world's

most powerful industries and built 

the strongest military anyone had ever seen. 

And today, it is stronger and more powerful than

 it ever was before.

Americans won the West and built

the modern world because America 

is a nation of winners. 

And today our country is winning again, 

and we're winning like never before.

America is back,

 and we want to 

keep America great. 

And we will do so by approving the Save America Act, 

which means all voters must show voter ID. 

All voters must provide a little thing called proof of citizenship.

And there will be no mail-in ballots, 

except for illness, disability, 

military deployment or travel.

And you won't have 

cheating on the elections anymore. 

It's very simple. 

Together, 

we are also reasserting the truth

that American strength and power is not 

something to be ashamed of. It is something that we 

are very, very proud of. This country has been

 the greatest force for peace 

and justice on earth. 

In the last century, we defeated tyrants, 

demolished evil and saved freedom again and again and again.

So, ladies and gentlemen,

these are the fighters and the banners 

of the greatest generation. 

They are the greatest generation. 

I hate to admit that, but they are. 

They saved the world and they made 

America very, very proud. 

We are very proud of you here us all. 

And after we vanquished fascism, 

Americans stood against the evil of communism in the Cold War. 

And as I said last night at the beautiful Mount Rushmore,

what a beautiful place where 

Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt loomed 

over my shoulder as I spoke.

 America will never be a communist country. 

Won't happen. Communism is a loser and it always will be.

The communist system is

the opposite of the American system

 and the communist system has never worked. 

Our warriors did not fight communism 

on battlefields across the world only to have that menace 

rear its ugly head right back here in America. 

We're not going to let it happen. 

We like to stop a threat like that immediately 

and before it begins. 

It's like a cancer. 

You got to cut it out. You got to cut it out fast. 

Congratulations and thank you

for being here very much. 

And from the now safe and beautiful capital of Washington. 

Think of it. Washington DC, our capital. 

Our capital is now safe, gleaming and beautiful again. 

It's safe again.

Went from a very unsafe place two years ago 

to one of the safest cities in the country 

and one of the most beautiful 

to the gleaming waters of the Gulf of America.

 

There is no challenge Americans cannot overcome. 

There is no place we cannot go. 

There is no goal we cannot reach and 

there is nothing that Americans cannot do. 

And we're proving that right now. 

Our stock market is the strongest it's ever been. 

We have $19.2 trillion being invested in our country, 

which is six times more than ever happened before. 

We're building more factories in the United States t

han ever before. Everyone's 401(k)s 

are at the highest number they've ever been.

And more people are working today in the United States 

than any time in the history of our country. 

But in this country, 

we can achieve the wildest 

and most impossible dreams. 

And no dream in history

 is bigger or more incredible 

than the one that started on July 4th, 1776. 

The war for independence was launched

 by minutemen, farmers, blacksmens, tradesmen 

who took up their muskets against

 the mightiest army on earth, 

most powerful army and 

unbeatable army until they met us. 

No one made them do it. 

They fought because they knew 

that a free people must have a free country over 250 years. 

The world has seen the great empires, vast kingdoms, 

mighty nations and terrible tyrants. 

They came and they went. 

But after two and a half centuries, 

this American republic still stands tall and strong 

and we love each other. 

That show tonight, you heard it was over and what happened? 

You came back. 

And this American flag still waves 

proud and free and beautiful. 

We have thrived and flourished 

because our founders were great. 

Our cause was just 

our people are brave. 

Our culture is exceptional 

and our destiny is written 

by God. 

And as we can see here tonight,
after 250 years, the spirit of 1776 still lives within us all. 

It still roars in the hearts of our nation's capital.

It still burns in the heart of every patriot,

thunders through every city and town and

 it still lights the entire world 

with the glow of American liberty. 

And there is nothing like that. 

At 250 years old, we may be the oldest 

constitutional republic on earth, 

but our country is just getting started 

because the best is yet to come. 

On this 250th 4th of July

we declared just as they did 

two and a half centuries ago 

that for our country and for our children 

and for the cause of liberty, 

we are going to take our country to new levels,

to levels not reached. 

We're going to make it bigger, better, stronger, 

and we're going to love it even more.