Bridgeport’s Memorial Day service on Monday was held indoors at the American Legion building due to rain. After attendees recited the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer was offered, the address was given by former state senator Steve Erdman. He spoke of the origins of Memorial Day as Decoration Day and how it became a national holiday, and why Congress passed the National Moment of Remembrance Act in 2000 to reclaim Memorial Day as the sacred and noble event that day was intended to be. Erdman encouraged those present to remember to pause at 3 p.m. to reflect on the meaning of the day.
Erdman spoke of the national anthem and proper etiquette to follow while the anthem is played: stand at attention, remove your hat, place your right hand over your heart, and don’t move around.
He told the story of Francis Scott Key and how he was to negotiate a prisoner exchange with the British off the coast of Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore in theWar of 1812. Instead of negotiating the exchange, the British admiral informed Key that the fort was to be bombarded that night and that he should expect to see the flag that was visible on the rampart lowered by morning, indicating the surrender of the fort.Throughout the night as the British ships bombarded the fort, the flag could still be seen flying when the bombs exploded. At some point, all the ships’ guns were trained on the rampart and the flagpole in an attempt to knock down the flag.
