A friend of mine sent this to me and at first, like all emails, I don’t always read them, but this one I did. BLESSINGS ON THIS THANKSGIVING. Mainly because it was from him, a veteran Marine, and secondly, because every time I hear this song “God Bless America”, tears well up in my eyes. I go back to the good things of life, The Things God has Given Us that we take for granted. So to all the Military Men and Women who have died, shed blood, fought for this country, and “As Lee Greenwood would say “Living Here Today”, God Bless The USA!
I say thank you, and my grandchildren say thank you as well! I also know that there are many law enforcement men and women who give their lives to protect and serve and did in fact, serve in the military. Thank you – as another officer falls.
This is truly OUTSTANDING My Family and with this profound message received from a brother Marine Veteran, We send you Best Wishes for a Very Happy Thanksgiving! …
Like most of You, I am desperately displeased with what I see is socialism converting our country, its millennialism, its morals, its respect for our decent patriotic people and our rule of law. I doubt this will change any of those despicable people, but We The People can still make that difference if we keep up the fight. I will carry this message to the end of my days… and making sure this message is shared far and wide to those of you who matter and care as I do. Please share this as we have with You…
God Bless, Happy Thanksgiving to You and Yours… & Semper FI
This is worth sharing; it kind of brought a tear to my eye..
The Story Of God Bless America
Young people especially should be shown this message. This was my mom and dad’s generation, grandfathers and great grandfathers too. These were people about to enter the worst of times of the 20th century. They did so bravely and won the war. This was and is a strong and great country. Don’t forget during these seemingly tough times, that such times were only created by politicians.
A Nice bit of History
(Did you know there are lyrics before the words “God bless America, land that I love.”??)
Frank Sinatra considered Kate Smith the best singer of her time, and said that when he and a million other guys first heard her sing “God Bless America” on the radio, they all pretended to have dust in their eyes as they wiped away a tear or two.
Here are the facts…. The link at the bottom will take you to a video showing the very first public singing of “GOD BLESS AMERICA”. But before you watch it, you should also know the story behind the first public showing of the song.
The time was 1940. America was still in a terrible economic depression. Hitler was taking over Europe and Americans were afraid we’d have to go to war. It was a time of hardship and worry for most Americans.
This was the era just before TV, when radio shows were HUGE, and American families sat around their radios in the evenings, listening to their favorite entertainers, and no entertainer of that era was bigger than Kate Smith.
Kate was also large; plus size, as we now say, and the popular phrase still used today is in deference to her, “It isn’t over till the fat lady sings”.
Kate Smith might not have made it big in the age of TV, but with her voice coming over the radio, she was the biggest star of her time.
Kate was also patriotic. It hurt her to see Americans so depressed and afraid of what the next day would bring. She had hope for America, and faith in her fellow Americans. She wanted to do something to cheer them up, so she went to the famous American song-writer, Irving Berlin (who also wrote “White Christmas”) and asked him to write a song that would make Americans feel good again about their country. When she described what she was looking for, he said he had just the song for her. He went to his files and found a song that he had written, but never published, 22 years before – way back in 1917. He gave it to her and she worked on it with her studio orchestra. She and Irving Berlin were not sure how the public would receive the song, but both agreed they would not take any profits from God Bless America. Any profits would go to the Boy Scouts of America. Over the years, the Boy Scouts have received millions of dollars in royalties from this song.
This video starts out with Kate Smith coming into the radio studio with the orchestra and an audience. She introduces the new song for the very first time, and starts singing. After the first couple verses, with her voice in the background still singing, scenes are shown from the 1940 movie, “You’re In The Army Now.” At the 4:20 mark of the video you see a young actor in the movie, sitting in an office, reading a paper; it’s Ronald Reagan.
To this day, God Bless America stirs our patriotic feelings and pride in our country. Back in 1940, when Kate Smith went looking for a song to raise the spirits of her fellow Americans, I doubt whether she realized just how successful the results would be for her fellow Americans during those years of hardship and worry… And for many generations of Americans to follow.
Now that you know the story of the song, I hope you’ll enjoy it.
Many people don’t know there’s a lead in to the song since it usually starts with “God Bless America…” So here’s the entire song as originally sung… ENJOY!
