‘Our destiny is written by God’: Watch Trump marshal Americans, historic spirit of defiance in speech celebrating nation’s 250th birthday * WorldNetDaily * by Thomas Wong, Daily Caller News Foundation

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WASHINGTON — In a late-night speech capping the semiquincentennial anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, President Donald Trump invoked familiar themes of patriotism, bravery, and sacrifice to declare that the story of the United States of America is worth cherishing while being far from over.

Though the threat of severe weather delayed the planned conclusion to Independence Day festivities in the nation’s capital, large crowds of determined Americans and visitors were observed surging towards the National Mall to view what the president teased as a record-breaking fireworks display, if not also his speech. The president, originally expected to give remarks around 10 p.m. EDT, took the stage at 11:15 p.m to deliver a nearly 40-minute speech.

“That show tonight, you heard it was over. And what happened? You came back,” Trump observed. “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,” he continued. “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.”

Punctuating the president’s remarks were numerous living and material manifestations of that enduring spirit.

The commander in chief, in a characteristic flair, displayed “flags that have seen a lot,” including one of the nation’s earliest, dating back to 1777. Bearing 13 stars and 13 stripes to represent the number of American colonies who declared their independence from Great Britain 250 years earlier, Trump highlighted a “real deal” flag which flew victorious at the Battle of Saratoga in New York. The battle, considered a turning point in the Revolutionary War, was a key American victory which secured a French alliance.

“One out of every 100 Americans gave their lives in the fight for independence,” he reflected while noting the flags “remind us of who these heroes were and what they gave us.”

The president then recalled the heroism of William Carney, who escaped slavery to become a Union soldier in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry during the Civil War. Carney was participating in the 1863 assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina when his regiment’s color bearer was shot. Despite suffering multiple severe wounds, he kept the flag raised. When he returned to Union lines, Carney famously stated, “The old flag never touched the ground!” Carney became the first African American to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Likewise, the flag which draped over the casket of Abraham Lincoln in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall was displayed before Saturday’s crowd. Trump then noted the bravery and selflessness of Vietnam veteran and Medal of Honor recipient Colonel Parris Davis as he saluted the colors. Davis, then a captain with the 5th Special Forces Group, led U.S. advisers and an inexperienced South Vietnamese company in a June 18, 1965 assault against a Viet Cong regional headquarters. Facing heavy fire after the strike, Davis refused multiple medical evacuations after being wounded to stay with his troops and directed a counterattack while preventing the loss of any American soldiers. He famously said, “Sir, I’m just not gonna leave. I still got an American out there.”

Trump noted 11 Gold Star families were present at the night’s event and that he would present medals to them recognizing the sacrifice of their loved ones.

“In this special 4th of July, we give you our undying gratitude and promise to redeem the sacrifice of your heroes by preserving the America that they love,” he said. “They loved our country. They sacrificed, they sacrificed it all, and these people have sacrificed at all. They’ve been through hell. We love you. Thank you very much. Thank you.”

Other flags on display for the night’s celebration included one of the first flags to be carried as the fledgling U.S. sought to expand its borders towards the west: one from the famous Lewis and Clark expedition from 1803. In addition to the first flag to fly over the Brooklyn Bridge in New York was the banner which flew atop the U.S. Navy’s flagship after sinking the Spanish fleet to the bottom of Manila Bay in the Phillipines during a May 1, 1898 battle of the Spanish-American War.

Drawing especially enthusiastic support was Ken Schubring, a 103-year-old World War II veteran who saluted the flag recovered from the U.S.S. Arizona — “a symbol of American defiance” — which was sunk during the Japanese attack on Pear Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Schubring, then 19 years old, was serving as an airplane mechanic at Wheeler Field, Oahu, Hawaii and resolved to strike back. He made good on his ambitions to fly B-29 bombers in the Pacific theater, serving from the war’s first day to its last.

Saluting one of the most iconic flags in American history, the one famously raised on Feb. 23, 1945, during the Battle of Iwo Jima, was 101-year-old Marine Corporal Don Graves, one of the last survivors of that brutal Feb. 19 – March 26 amphibious assault.

Likewise, the American flag which flew atop the first landing craft of the Allies’ D-Day invasion of Normandy was saluted by 107-year-old Navy Lieutenant Arthur Rose, “who commanded 36 landing craft as part of the largest naval armada in history.”


Trump then recalled a story of a mother and daughter in Nazi-occuppied Belgium stitching together a homemade American flag as a plea for liberation in 1944. On the day they were freed, they gifted the flag to an American soldier who’s grandfather was the famous Francis Scott Key, who authored “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the U.S. National anthem. Present decades later to salute the flag was the next generation of the Key family, including Major Kyle Key, an Army veteran of 23 years.

Trump then turned to another battle against a threat to America’s founding principles of freedom and self-determination: communism.

“Ever since, the entire world has been on notice that Americans will never let anyone take our freedom away — won’t happen,” he declared. “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,” Trump continued. “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 … fast.”

The president also championed flags from America’s technological advancement, from the first flight to ambitions to set foot upon Mars. Joining the crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission, which carried four astronauts farther away from the Earth than any other attempt, was Apollo 17 astronaut Jack Schmitt. Schmitt, who had just reached 91 of age on July 3, was the twelfth and final person to walk on the Moon during the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972. These pioneers saluted the flag flown on the Wright brothers’ airplane which marked the beginning of air travel, piloted by Orville Wright on Dec. 17, 1903. Trump then revealed the flag which would be brought upon the planned Artemis IV mission to return Americans to the lunar surface was also on display, having been flown atop the U.S. Capitol earlier that day.

“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,” Trump declared. “We are made the courage and the fire and the flesh and the blood of the best and the bravest people this world has ever produced. We are the bravest and the best. Tonight we pledge allegiance to the flag they gave us. And we say, ‘God bless the immortal patriots of 1776,’ and ‘Long live the cause of independence!’ May it reign forever and ever and ever.”

“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, he added. “This is only the dawn of the golden Age of America.”

Following an afterburner-assisted flyover by a Rockwell B-1 Lancer, the 250th year of American independence was kicked off at midnight by roughly 40 minutes of fireworks.

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