Irving Berlin, who arrived in America in 1893 as a Jewish immigrant from Czarist Russia, was a prolific songwriter, both composer and lyricist, and he wrote hundreds of songs.  Almost every American over the age of fifty is familiar with some of his creations.  Think, for instance, of that marvelous musical Annie Get Your Gun or the movie White Christmas.  He wrote all the music for both of these productions – and for many more.  He composed the music and lyrics for God Bless America while serving in the United States Army in 1918, but he set it aside as not being appropriate for the show he was producing at that time. Twenty years later it was revived and introduced by the well-known singer Kate Smith during her Armistice Day radio show, November 11, 1938.

In 1938, with the rise of Adolph Hitler and Europe’s drift toward another war, God Bless America was very appropriate as a peace song, and it captured the hearts of the American people.  As a grammar-school student, I remember singing it during school assembles during the school years 1938-39, 1939-40. Truly, it was a prayer for the well-being of our country during that turbulent era.  At this present time it would also be well for us to sing it over and over again.

 [Spoken Introduction:]
“While the storm clouds gather far across the sea

Let us swear allegiance to a land that’s free
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer. “

[Song:]
God bless America

Land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above

From the mountains, to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam
God bless America
My home, sweet home
God bless America
My home, sweet home

 From the mountains, to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam
God bless America
My home, sweet home
God bless America
My home, sweet home

God Bless America!