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Don't Give Up The Ship!" commanded 31-year-old Captain James Lawrence, as he lay wounded on the deck of the U.S.S. Chesapeake.
Captain Lawrence fought Muslim Barbary pirates in 1804, and when the War of 1812 began, he commanded the U.S.S. Hornet which captured the privateer Dolphin and the H.M.S. Peacock.
President Madison wrote May 25, 1813:
"The brilliant achievements of our infant Navy, a signal triumph has been gained by Captain Lawrence...in the Hornet sloop of war...
The contest in which the United States are engaged appeals...to the sacred obligation of transmitting...to future generations
that...which is held...by the present from the goodness of Divine
Providence."
On JUNE 1, 1813, Captain Lawrence sailed from Boston and was attacked by the British ship Shannon.
Within an hour, nearly every officer was killed.
Later, Captain Oliver Hazard Perry was inspired to name his flagship on Lake Erie "Lawrence."
Theodore Roosevelt wrote in Hero Tales from American History, 1895:
"Lawrence, dying with the words on his lips, 'Don't give up the ship' and Perry...with the same words blazoned on his banner...won glory in desperate conflicts and left a reputation hardly dimmed."
American Minute
with
Bill FedererJuly 16
Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Kennedy JULY 16, 1969, being the first mission to walk on the moon.
In Proclamation 3919, President Richard Nixon stated:
"Apollo 11 is on its way to the moon.
It carries three brave astronauts; it also carries the hopes and prayers of hundreds of millions of people...
That moment when man first sets foot on a body other than earth will stand through the centuries as one supreme in human experience...
I call upon all of our people...to join in prayer for the successful conclusion of Apollo 11's mission."
President Richard Nixon spoke to the astronauts on the moon, July 20, 1969:
"This certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made from the White House...
The heavens have become a part of man's world...
For one priceless moment in the whole history of man all the people on this earth are truly one...one in our prayers that you will return safely to earth."
President Nixon greeted the astronauts on the U.S.S. Hornet, July 24, 1969:
"The millions who are seeing us on television now...feel as I do, that...our prayers have been answered...
I think it would be very appropriate if Chaplain Piirto, the Chaplain of this ship, were to offer a prayer of thanksgiving."
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