Recently I reflected on my love for the American Flag.  It is something that has become an extension of me as I proudly display it and pay tribute to it before each of my shows at The Arcada and Des Plaines Theatres.

My personal history with the “Red, White and Blue” begins as it does for most, especially for those in and around my age group.

It began with the Pledge of Allegiance in kindergarten.  I remember having trouble saying the word, “indivisible,” and not knowing what any of it meant until my sixth-grade history class.

One of my fondest memories of my childhood is when my dad would take me to a Sunday double-header at Wrigley Field.  Seven-dollar box seats, a “Smokie Link” and those circus peanuts we would order just so the vendor would throw the bag at us in our middle-of-the-row seats were our staples (Cracker Jacks were considered special treats I received every once in a while).

That was where I got my first memorable exposure to the “Star Spangled Banner”.  My dad would laugh at me as I stood before the second game of the double header as it was about to start, hand on heart waiting for the organ to play the anthem once again.

It wasn’t until the third out of the top of the first inning that I realized that they didn’t play the anthem twice at double headers!  My dad let me stay standing anyway!

I grew up in a WWII household as my dad was a U.S. Army hero in the “Great War”.  Films from the 1940s were regularly on our black-and-white television set.  Our two-family traditions were “The Wizard of Oz” at Easter time, and “Yankee Doodle Dandy” on the Fourth of July.

That story of legendary American showman George M. Cohan was more mired in his love for the flag than his illustrious career on Broadway.  Because of this childhood tradition, I not only had an early appreciation for the flag, but I was also the only fourth grader to know the words to the Cohan-classic, “You’re A Grand Old Flag”!

In theory, there cannot be any sort of silver lining to the 911 tragedy.  I was at the World Trade Center in NYC just hours before it all happened, and days later was on “Ground Zero” as there was still smoke coming from the ashes.   A New York City fireman friend took me there and I truly cannot explain my deep feelings I had at that time.

But one of the most powerful memories I had about the whole thing was the strength the flag carried, unifying everyone with pride during a time of massive grief.  The letters “U S A” were everywhere, flags were abundantly displayed and red, white and blue was the style of the day.  Even the President of the United States had a 92% approval rating!  Imagine that!

Many soldiers of military conflicts do not like to speak about their time overseas.  My dad spoke about it practically daily.  For him, it was the proudest and most intense time of his life.  We would regularly hear about his war buddies, the massive fighting, and his acceptance of a probable demise before discharge.  That acceptance is what gave him the positive attitude he needed to make it through it all.

Many of his stories centered around the soldiers in the surrounding foxholes that were killed in action.  “They fought for the flag,” he would say.  It took me years to truly understand what he meant by that.  It also took me years to realize why a tear would come to his eye every time he saw that famous photo of the soldiers raising the flag on the Japanese mountaintop of Iwo Jima in 1945.

I always kept that reverence for the flag, proudly displaying it at my businesses and events.  But it wasn’t until the COVID 19 outbreak that I realized once again the power of the “Star Spangled Banner”.

Once we returned from the insanity, I was so happy to welcome folks back, I began every show with a salute to medical heroes, first responders, teachers and military veterans.  I brought out a flag and led the audience in the singing of the National Anthem.  It was not a fancy flag.  In fact, it was an old one I had for years taped onto a pipe and a microphone stand base.  It is still the one I use to this day.

But as I peer into the audience with the iconic band Metallica doing its Rock-rendition of the anthem on the video screen behind me, I always get a bit choked up as many have their hand on their hearts, veterans are saluting, and families are singing together.  Occasionally, there will be someone in the audience who refuses to stand, arms folded in protest.

I try to keep it positive.  I don’t take this as an act of disrespect.  I call it a prime example of the very freedom the flag represents.  Could you imagine not respecting any other country like that, and not being thrown into jail…or worse?

The flag is a symbol of unity, celebration, remembrance and mourning.  It is the “seventh inning stretch” before the first inning begins.

And, in full-circle symbolism, the very flag my dad was so proud of, the one he put his life on the line to protect, the one we would sing loud and proud to, was the same flag folded ever so tightly by a soldier and presented to my grieving mother after a twenty-one gun salute on a grey day in September of 2012.

That’s all that a flag represents to me.  So when you come to one of our shows and we do the anthem together at the beginning, you will now know what is running through my mind, verse after verse.

 “It is the emblem of, the land I love, the home of the free and the brave.”  I will celebrate the Fourth and honor the flag.  I hope you will do the same and give a nod and a quick prayer for the folks that kept it flying.