Our beloved flag has been distinguished in many ways, but perhaps none as grand as her given nickname . . . “OLD GLORY!”
This famous nickname was first voiced by Captain William Driver, a shipmaster of Salem, Massachusetts, in 1831. As he was leaving on one of his many voyages some acquaintances offered him a beautiful flag having twenty four stars. As the flag was captured by the sea breezes for the first time, he shouted, “Old Glory!”
Driver settled at Nashville in 1837, taking his prized flag with him. Most everyone in the Nashville area and beyond recognized the Captain’s “Old Glory.” When Tennessee seceded from the Union, during the Civil War, Rebels were determined to destroy his flag, but the flag could not be found through the many search attempts.
On February 25th, 1862, Union forces conquered Nashville and hoisted the American flag over the capital. As the story goes, it was a rather small and insignificant banner and soon folks began asking the Captain if “Old Glory” had survived. Having friendly soldiers with him, he happily went home and began slashing at the seams of his bed blanket. As the stitches unraveled, the witnesses looked closely saw the 24-starred original “Old Glory”!
The Captain tenderly gathered up the old flag and returned to the capitol with the soldiers escorting. The Captain climbed up the tower and replaced the smaller with his much-loved “Old Glory”.
While I was serving in Vietnam, Ronald Reagan was serving as the Governor of California, and at my requests, Governor Reagan sent a flag that had flown at the Capitol Building. We proudly flew it outside our dingy canvas tent. This old flag has a place in my heart where it flies every day of my life.
When I look at “Old Glory” I see the lives of approximately 1,264,000 men and women who have died defending her. That is, our “Grand Ole Flag” is stained with 10,112,000 pints of patriot blood. I, for one, will ever honor them by honoring My Flag, “Old Glory”!