Flag Day 2023, is a holiday observed annually on June 14 (it is also Donald Trumps birthday!!). It is a day that commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States that took place in 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress. The United States Army also celebrates the Army Birthday on this date.
History of Flag Day The history of Flag Day 2023 dates back to June 14, 1777, when British symbols of the Grand Union flag were replaced with a new design featuring 13 white stars in a circle on a field of blue and 13 red and white stripes ( one for each state) by the Continental Congress. The number of stars increased as the new states entered the Union, but the number of stripes stopped at 15 and was later returned to 13.
In June 1886 Bernard Cigrand made his first public proposal for the annual observance of the birth of the flag. Cigrand's efforts to ensure national observance of Flag Day finally came when President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation calling for a nationwide observance of the event on June 14, 1916.
However, Flag Day did not become official until August 1949, when President Harry Truman signed the legislation and proclaimed June 14 as Flag Day. In 1966, Congress also requested that the President issue annually a proclamation designating the week in which June 14 occurs as National Flag Week. Source: Calendar-365.com
Edward J. O'Hare by Carol McManus
Edward J. O’Hare — who was later known to his unsavory business associates as Easy Eddie — was just an ambitious Irish businessman from St. Louis, Missouri. He married at only 19, and the couple had three children; the youngest a son named Edward, known as Butch. Ever industrious, Easy Eddie found the time to take classes and pass the Missouri bar exam while he sent his son to Western Military Academy in Alton. He joined a law firm and continued to expand his business interests.
Easy Eddie purchased the patent rights to a mechanical rabbit used at dog racing tracks. With his newfound wealth, O’Hare moved his family to a nicer neighborhood. After he and wife divorced in 1927, he moved to Chicago while is now ex-wife remained in St Louis with their daughters.
Crime bosses in 1930’s Chicago operated like business insurers and so when Easy Eddie sought to set up shop there, none other than notorious crime boss Al Capone collaborated with him on business ventures. By 1931, Capone and Easy Eddie had opened and were operating dog tracks in Chicago, Miami, and Boston. Easy Eddie continued to rake in the money, but eventually he began to tire of working with Capone and his lawless mob.
Around the same time, his son “Butch” was in the process of applying to the U.S. Naval Academy and would require the backing of a congressman in order to be accepted. Easy Eddie was well-connected, but he feared harming his son’s reputation because of his illegal dealings. By some accounts, this was the catalyst which led Easy Eddie to turn away from — and eventually turn in — Al Capone.
Easy Eddie turned over a series of Capone’s financial records to the IRS, which gave prosecutors the evidence they needed to finally arrest and convict the long sought after criminal for tax evasion.
But Easy Eddies change of heart cost him his life. On his way home from a racetrack on November 8th, 1939, he was shot by two men in a neighboring car. They were most likely hit men, acting out of retaliation for putting Capone away, although this was never proven and no arrests for Easy Eddie’s murder were ever made. The Story of Butch O’Hare Edward “Butch” O’Hare may have had an even more remarkable career than his father. Following his graduation from Western Military Academy, Butch enrolled in the United States Naval Academy. After his graduation and commissioning as an Ensign he served on various ships and then started flight training in Pensacola, Florida. Butch was eventually assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Lexington in the waters north of Papua New Guinea. On February. 20, 1942, his crew received notice that the Japanese were shipping into Rabaul. The USS Lexington, led by Lieutenant Commander John Thach, headed toward Rabaul to make a strike at the Japanese, but they were discovered en route by an enemy Snooper. The Snooper relayed their position back to the Japanese, and, by that afternoon, multiple Japanese bombers were upon them.
Commander Thach led an interception, but in the meantime, more Japanese bombers headed towards them. Butch and his wingman, Duff Dufilho, launched from the Lexington to try to head off the second wave. It soon became apparent that no other pilots were close enough to assist in the fight. Rather than head back, Butch went on to intercept them alone. Demonstrating remarkable flying skills and marksmanship, he single-handedly downed five Japanese bombers, attacking them until he ran out of ammo.
His act of bravery was credited with saving the USS Lexington, and he was the first naval aviator awarded The Medal of Honor and was personally congratulated by President Roosevelt.
He eventually returned to duty in the Pacific, in command of the entire air group aboard the USS Enterprise. In November he led the first night time fighter attack from an aircraft carrier, to intercept a large force of enemy torpedo bombers. He was shot down during this encounter with the enemy. Neither Butch nor his aircraft were ever found.
But, this naval aviator was honored another way. In 1949 a small airfield known as Orchard Depot was being built to replace Chicago’s Midway airport. As you may have guessed by now, Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, the fourth busiest in the world, was renamed in Butch O’Hare’s honor. Only in America can a WWII hero and Medal of Honor winner redeem his father’s mobster past. Adapted from an article by Aimee Lamoureux on Allthatsinteresting.com
The National Prayer Breakfast by Carol McManus
The National Prayer Breakfast *For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7)* The National Prayer Breakfast has taken place since 1953, and since the 1980’s it has been held at the Washington Hilton ballroom, where more than three thousand people gather from the one hundred countries. It began when Billy Graham was in Portland, Oregon, and met Abraham Vereide, who had been active in staring prayers groups among business leaders in the Northwest. Vereide appealed to Graham about launching a prayer ministry in the nations capital-an annual Presidential Prayer Breakfast. Graham approached President Eisenhower, who was initially cool to the idea but later gave it his support. Hotel magnate Conrad Hilton agreed to underwrite the event. This highpoint of the breakfast is a united time of prayer that, for few minutes, unites souls from diverse parties and governments. But the breakfast has also become a fitting place for presidents to discuss their faith more openly. On February 13, 2015, President Barack Obama said, On this occasion, I always enjoy reflecting on a piece of scripture that been meaningful to me and otherwise sustained me throughout the year. And lately, I’ve been thinking and praying on a verse from Second Timothy: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” [He repeated] For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind…” For me, and I know for so many of you, faith is the great cure for fear. Jesus is a good cure for fear. God give believers the love, the sound mind required to conquer any fear. And what more important moment for that faith than right now! What better time than these changing, tumultuous times to have Jesus standing beside us, steadying our minds, cleaning our hearts, pointing us toward what matters…. My faith tells me that I need not fear earth; that acceptance Christ promises everlasting life and the washing away of sins. If Scripture instructs me to “put on the full armor of God” so that when trouble comes, I’m able to stand, then surely, I can face down these temporal setbacks, surely, I can battle back doubts, surely I can rouse myself to action… And so, yes, like any person, there are times when I’m fearful. But my faith, and more importantly, the faith that I’ve seen in so many of you, The God I see in you, that makes me inevitably hopeful about the future. I have seen so many who know that God had not given us a spirit of fear. Has given us power, and love, and a sound mind. On February 7, 2019, President Donald Trump looked to President Franklin Roosevelt’s prayer for the nation on D-Day and inspiration for the power of a praying America: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt led our nation in prayer…Since the founding of our nation, many of us our greatest strides—from gaining our independence, to abolition, to civil rights, to extending the vote for women—have been led by people of faith and started in prayer… As Jesus promises in the Bible, “Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” We are blessed to live in a land of faith where all things are possible. Our only limits are those we place on ourselves. So true. So today, and every day, let us pray for the future of our country. Let us pray for the courage to pursue justice and the wisdom to forge peace. Let us pray for a future where every child has a warm, safe, and loving home. Let us come together for the good of our people, for the strength of our families, for the safety of our citizens, for the fulfillment of our deepest hopes and our highest potential. And let us always give thanks for the miracle of life, the majesty of creation, and the grace of Almighty God. May God always give us leaders who pray, who seek His face, who keep their Bibles open and their knees bent, and who willingly say—not as a formality but as the sincere desire of their hearts—may God bless the United States of America. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This came from the book “100 Bible Verses that made America (Defining Moments That Shaped Our Enduring Foundation of Faith) by Robert J Morgan. *My apologies to anyone offended by a quote from Barack Obama.
John Henry "Doc" Holliday" by Carol McManus
John Henry “Doc” Holliday: We all have heard of Wyatt Earp and his friend John Henry “Doc” Holliday. They are part of Prescott’s history. While the legends of his life are many, Doc was known as a drunkard, gambler, and gunfighter. But his upbringing and background were mostly fictionalized as his genteel southern family was reluctant to talk to reporters and writers.
John Henry Holliday was born August 14, 1851 in Griffin, GA as the only surviving child of Alice Jane McKey and Henry Burroughs Holliday. They were both from socially, politically, and professionally prominent southern families.
John Henry was born with a cleft palate that forced his mother to feed him with a shot glass and eye dropper as he could not suckle normally. The cleft was surgically repaired by his uncle, Dr. John Holliday (for whom he was named) and Dr Crawford Williamson Long. John Henry was sheltered by his mother as she engaged him in extensive speech exercises that minimized any speech impediment.
Coming from a large extended family, John Henry often played with his cousins. An orphaned former slave girl named Sophie Walton was tasked with watching over John Henry and his cousins. She was an expert card player and taught John Henry and his cousins the skills that would serve him well later on. John Henry was also taught, as all men were in his day, on the use of guns. He and his cousins often target practiced and hunted, honing their skills as part of their upbringing.
Befitting his family’s place in society, John Henry was well educated and prepared for a professional career. He graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in March 1872. (‘Doc’) Afterward he joined a dental practice in Atlanta and lived with his uncle and aunt. He was set to live the life of a southern gentleman.
But a fateful diagnosis would change his life and seal his place in the folklore of the Old West.
In the summer of 1873 John Henry was diagnosed with tuberculosis. In September he left Georgia for Texas, where hopefully the climate would help his health. He found it easier to support himself as gambler and faro dealer, especially as his tubercular cough made it difficult to practice dentistry. And the rest is history as they say. As he wandered the west, Doc went on to befriend Wyatt Earp and his brothers, worked as a sometimes lawman, including the infamous gunfight at the OK Corral and as a faro dealer, using the gambling skills he learned as a youth. He drank to ease the pain of TB. While his gunfights were legendary, there are very few records to support the number claimed. He was a southern gentleman forced by circumstances to re-invent himself. He died on November 8, 1888, age 36 in Glenwood Springs, CO.