Freedom fuels bravery of Americans

On the morning of Sept. 13, 1814, a young Maryland lawyer Francis Scott Key was allowed to board a British ship to arrange the release of a Washington, D.C., physician who had been taken captive the previous month when the British invaded and burned our nation's capital.

While on the boat, he overheard sailors talking about the impending attack on Fort McHenry, which caused him to be held on the boat until after the battle was over. He then had a front row seat when the British launched a furious artillery assault from their fleet of 19 ships with 1,500 rounds of explosives launched at the start shaped fort. The British had planned to take the fort then sack the town of Baltimore it protected.

The previous year, Maj. George Amistead had ordered a 30 foot by 42 foot American flag to be flown over the fort, to make sure, as Amistead put it, "that the British would have no difficulty seeing it." At the time, the flag was the largest battle flag ever flown. The cannonade lasted all night, but when morning came, the enormous flag was still flying, albeit a bit shot up, and it became obvious the Americans had no intention of surrendering. The Americans bravery in the face of the onslaught caused the British to abandon their plans to take the fort and city on the grounds that it would be too costly. And it would have been.

Key's witnessing of the assault on the fort and the defenders bravery in the face of it, inspired him to pen "The Star Spangled Banner" which later became our national anthem. In the songs' last line are the words "the home of the brave," a description that has characterized our national character from those days to the present.

To take on the British Empire in 1776, with really nothing more than ideas and resolve seemed foolhardy to a lot of people in the American colonies. The number of stories recorded during that long war with the British is replete with countless tales of individual courage and bravery from soldiers, militia, ordinary residents and even young teens.

Texans who rebelled against the cruel and despotic Mexican tyrant Santa Ana, were inspired by the gallant stand of less than 200 men against thousands of Mexican soldiers who sought to bring them to heel. The Civil War that raged through the 1860s was made all the more terrible because of the great courage and bravery exhibited by both sides.

In the early 20th century, a war broke out in Europe (World War I) that most Americans were eager to avoid, but events eventually led to American participation. My grandfather, John N. McGee, and a million other newly trained soldiers made it to the western front by the summer of 1918. Though entering the war years after their allies had taken it up, the doughboys lost no time in demonstrating the courage of American soldiers.

On Oct. 8, 1918, a company of American soldiers were making their way forward when they were ambushed on two sides. With all the officers killed or wounded, Corporal Alvin York took command of the remaining men and ordered them to get down while he went off to deal with the machine gun nests. The Tennessee country boy was a crack shot, and he managed to hit every enemy soldier he shot towards while on the run and succeeded at silencing the guns. The one man attack so unnerved the Germans that 132 men surrendered to him.

Two weeks later, an American division of 574 men were surrounded by Germans after the Americans had captured a key hill threatening German supply lines. Over the course of nearly a week, the men lost more than half their number, ran out of food, almost ran out of ammunition, and were even shelled accidentally by their own side. Their commander, Major Charles Whittlesey, would not respond to or answer the many requests by the Germans to surrender, with the German commander at the scene later remarking how the Americans "were brave beyond belief."

Twenty years later, America was again caught up in another World War. The details of the Normandy invasion are incredible in the number of men who fiercely charged into almost certain death. The number of Americans demonstrating bravery in the face of the enemy in that war was legion, with perhaps the greatest example of them being a diminutive Texan named Audie Murphy. The rather small teenager was rejected many times for induction into the armed services due to his small size. When he finally did get in, he wound up winning every medal the military had to award, including the Medal of Honor. He also received numerous medals from other allied countries. His most outstanding act of bravery was when, single handed, he held off an entire German company with a machine gun on top a burning tank, saving the lives of dozens of his fellow soldiers.

While wars end, there are always more to contend with due to the nature of man. The Korean War, the Vietnam conflict, the Marine incursion into Grenada, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan all have in common the fact that the American armed forces have servicemen whose actions give honor to that last line in the national anthem.

The thing about bravery is that most likely, the men and women who find themselves in a position to demonstrate bravery brought that attribute with them when they signed up. Bravery isn't something that just happens by accident.

When the twin towers fell in New York City, hundreds fire and police men were killed running into a doomed building, hoping to save lives. Those two Americans who earlier this year overpowered a heavily armed Muslim terrorist on a train in France with their bare hands, said afterwards that they acted instinctively. Last week, a construction worker on a school campus, stopped a Muslim knife attack on students at the risk of own life when he came across what was happening.

The Benghazi attack on the American Embassy in Libya saw four former servicemen defy orders to stand down, in order to do what they could to save American lives. They were all killed fighting against more than 100 Muslim terrorists and those that knew them weren't surprised at their actions.

Bravery is a part of America's DNA. While movies get made about bravery in military engagements, bravery is on display every day, in every state and town in the USA. Teachers, truck drivers, clerks, factory workers, professionals, or in just about any field of endeavor, you can name people who, when the need arose, did something at personal risk for the benefit of another.

The fact that many Americans have long exhibited a high degree of bravery is unquestionable. The question that might be asked is "why?"

A free people are more inclined to be productive, hard working, and, yes, brave. As long as citizens can enjoy the freedoms envisioned by our founding fathers, there will always be those who value this freedom, and that is the beginning of bravery.

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Editor's note: John McGee is an award-winning columnist. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].

Editorial on 11/11/2015