Fort Mchenry

Two special events will be celebrated on Sept. 11 -- Fort McHenry's 200th birthday and the 180th anniversary of the Battle of Baltimore. Plans are a little incomplete at this date, but my friend Alan Walden, president of the Patriots of Fort McHenry, says it should be quite a day.President Clinton, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, Gov. William Donald Schaefer, senators and congressmen are among those expected to attend the gala celebration, along...

DURING the Civil War, President Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus, and thousands of Americans merely suspected of disloyalty were thrown into prison, many of them into lock-ups at Fort McHenry. One such victim was a youth whose history is of profound interest to me.I was reminded of his plight on reading Jacques Kelly's articlrecently on the "Occupied Baltimore" exhibit at the Maryland Historical Society. The display recalls the Civil War period when Maryland's Confederate sympathies were kept in check by the force of Union Army occupation.

In a preliminary September 1862 proclamation, President Abraham Lincoln announced his intention to free all slaves in states that were in rebellion against the Union. The historic action taken by Lincoln signaled to the world that the Civil War was about more than simply preserving the Union. It was also about ending the cruelty of slavery. Lincoln's proclamation stated in part: "That on the 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, all persons held as slaves within in any State or designated part of a State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thence forward, and forever free."

Parachutists dropped from the sky with pinpoint accuracy, historic sailing ships fired a cannon salute, and thousands of people recited the 31 words of the Pledge of Allegiance at Fort McHenry last night -- along with countless other patriots around the nation.The event marked the 12th annual nationwide "Pause for the Pledge of Allegiance" -- a Flag Day celebration bolstered this year by the U.S victory in the Persian Gulf."We feel this is important for the nation, not just for today, but year-round," said Richard Patterson, vice president of the National Flag Day Foundation, which sponsored the event.

The federal government will give $364,000 to the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Site to upgrade the entrance and parking facilities, Maryland's two U.S. senators announced yesterday. The money - to come from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration - will help relieve safety concerns about schoolchildren, pedestrians and tour groups walking amid rows of buses to enter the Fort McHenry visitor center, according to the senators' offices. The parking lot will be improved, and a study will begin to look at building a circular route for transit vehicles to enter the lot from Fort Avenue.

Observing the bicentennial of the origins of Fort McHenry, and the Defender's Day anniversary of its famous bombardment, a citizens group launched a nationwide campaign to help keep Baltimore's star-shaped monument a tourist attraction for another 200 years.As part of the annual ceremonies commemorating the 1814 Battle of Baltimore -- in which the city's defenders repulsed an invading British fleet and Francis Scott Key wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner" -- the Patriots of Fort McHenry announced its drive to raise $5.5 million to build a new visitor and education center for the fort.

On his inaugural whistle-stop tour that rolled through Baltimore this year, President Barack Obama made a point of mentioning that a runaway slave was among the troops who beat back the British during the battle in 1814 that inspired "The Star-Spangled Banner." He didn't name the soldier, but the history buffs of Fort McHenry knew exactly who he was talking about. "He was referring to Frederick Hall, who escaped from a plantation in Prince George's County and joined the regular U.S. Army under the assumed name of William Williams," said Vincent Vaise, a park ranger at Fort McHenry who commands the historical guard and serves as a font of historical knowledge.

CLARY'S FOREST resident Michael Washington led the Pledge of Allegiance at the 19th annual National Pause for the Pledge of Allegiance program on Flag Day, June 14, at Fort McHenry.Michael, who has completed eighth grade at Wilde Lake Middle School, was chosen for the honor from students throughout Maryland.Sitting with him on the platform were several relatives, including his mother, Sharon Washington, and his grandmother, Beth Turpin of Town Center.On June 9, Michael represented Howard County schools at the Maryland Salute to Flag Day ceremony in Annapolis.

The bombs bursting in air will take on a whole new level of authenticity this weekend during the Defenders' Day celebration at Fort McHenry. About 140 re-enactors — or twice the number there have been at past commemorations — will defend the fort when it is "attacked" at dusk Saturday. The troops will be bombarded by six cannons detonated by members of the Maryland Army National Guard, while fireworks specifically designed to resemble the flame-like trails emitted by Congreve rockets will light up the night sky. "They want it to look like the red rockets from the national anthem," says Gay Vietzke, the fort's superintendent.

The U.S. Postal Service will offer a pictorial postmark commemorating Flag Day on June 14 and the 22nd anniversary of the Annual National Pause for the Pledge of Allegiance at 6 p.m. that day at Fort McHenry. The free postmark can be imprinted on any envelope bearing first-class postage at the event or acquired through mail order: Flag Day Station Manager, Main Office Window Services, U.S. Postal Service, 900 E. Fayette St., Baltimore 21233-9715. Enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope for return.