This cross-link is certainly a first, but I just read an insightful piece in the Charleston Mercury on why St. Michael’s Episcopal Church rings their bells on June 28, Carolina Day. In 1776, General Moultrie and the American patriots successfully defended Fort Sullivan and Charleston from the British Navy. That battle ultimately led to the palmetto and crescent moon state flag we now proudly emblaze across koozies, visors, and polo shirts.
Palmetto trees are alive inside (you can literally cut into them and it’s wet and fleshy, but that hurts the tree), unlike deciduous trees, which consist of bark, live material (xylem and phloem), and then dead heartwood for the bulk of the interior, hence the rings. Because of that, the palmetto logs used to construct Fort Sullivan absorbed the cannonballs impact instead of cracking and breaking. Thus, palmettos = freedom.
Sort of. But it’s less unclear than how the U.S. military occupying Iraq = freedom. In any regards, the author of the Mercury article is an Episcopal priest and former Navy aviator and chaplain. His evaluation of a church’s role in commemorating a military victory is both informed and astute. Never mind that I bear a striking resemblance to him. Sort of. Give it a read.
