November 25 · This Day in America
At noon, by the terms of the peace, the last redcoats step into longboats at the Battery and shove off from New York Harbor. Seven years of occupation end with the tide. Up the island the Continental Army comes down Broadway and Wall Street behind George Washington on a gray horse, into a city of broken windows and exhausted people who line the streets and weep. The British had nailed their flag to a greased pole at Fort George. A young veteran climbs it anyway and runs up the Stars and Stripes before the enemy ships are out of sight. This is the moment the Revolution stops being a war and starts being a country. The soldiers go home. The flag stays up. The experiment begins.
Source: www.frauncestavernmuseum.org
Also on this day · 1963
Three days after Dallas, the nation buries John F. Kennedy. On the cathedral steps, Jacqueline leans down and whispers to her son. John Jr. — three years old that very day — lifts his right hand and salutes the passing coffin. He had practiced for a different ceremony. A Marine had shown him how. The photograph travels everywhere, and a grieving country recognizes its own heart in a child's small, perfect gesture.
Source: www.jfklibrary.org