The National Football League aired a highly patriotic tribute to the American flag on Sunday during the Super Bowl.
&#8220;FOX Sports crews brought Kyle Carpenter, a Marine who won the Medal of Honor, to Jackson County to shoot [the] video that showcases patriotism,&#8221; WRAL <a href="https://www.wral.com/watch-super-bowl-pregame-for-scenes-from-western-nc/18921712/">reported</a>. &#8220;The network [put] together a sports feature called &#8216;Ragged Old Flag&#8217; [that aired] just before the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. Carpenter served with valor in Afghanistan in 2010.&#8221;
&#8220;A recording of Ragged Old Flag, a spoken word tribute written and narrated by Johnny Cash, played over historic news clips and reenactments of important moments in American history,&#8221; Mediate <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/tv/watch-super-bowl-tribute-to-american-flag-features-nfl-owners-medal-of-honor-winner-johnny-cash/">reported</a>. &#8220;Cash wrote it in 1974, a prior time of political unrest in the immediate aftermath of the Watergate scandal. His intention with the heartfelt verses was to &#8216;reaffirm faith in the country and the goodness of the American people.'&#8221;
During the ad, Carpenter recited part of the Declaration of Independence, &#8220;We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Watch the complete Super Bowl tribute to the American flag (feat: Johnny Cash &amp; Medal of Honor recipient Kyle Carpenter) <a href="https://t.co/3MjNOcu6IM">pic.twitter.com/3MjNOcu6IM</a>
&mdash; Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) <a href="https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1224128468029509632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The video features audio from Carpenter was awarded with the Medal of Honor in 2014, when a military aide <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/06/19/remarks-president-presentation-medal-honor-corporal-william-kyle-carpent">said</a> the following:
<blockquote>The President of the United States, in the name of the Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Lance Corporal William Kyle Carpenter, United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an automatic rifleman with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, Regimental Combat Team One, 1st Marine Division (Forward), 1st Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), in Helmand Province, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom on 21 November, 2010.
Lance Corporal Carpenter was a member of a platoon-sized coalition force comprised of two reinforced Marine rifle squads, partnered with an Afghan National Army squad.  The platoon had established Patrol Base Dakota two days earlier in a small village in the Marja District in order to disrupt enemy activity and provide security for the local Afghan population.
Lance Corporal Carpenter and a fellow Marine were manning a rooftop security position on the perimeter of Patrol Base Dakota when the enemy initiated a daylight attack with hand grenades, one of which landed inside their sandbagged position.  Without hesitation and with complete disregard for his own safety, Lance Corporal Carpenter moved towards the grenade in an attempt to shield his fellow Marine from the deadly blast.  When the grenade detonated, his body absorbed the brunt of the blast, severely wounding him but saving the life of his fellow Marine.
By his undaunted courage, bold fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of almost certain death, Lance Corporal Carpenter reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.</blockquote>
Transcript of the lyric to Johnny Cash&#8217;s &#8220;Ragged Old Flag&#8221;:
<blockquote>I walked through a county courthouse square 
On a park bench, an old man was sittin&#8217; there. 
I said, &#8220;Your old court house is kinda run down, 
He said, &#8220;Naw, it&#8217;ll do for our little town&#8221;. 
I said, &#8220;Your old flag pole is leaned a little bit, 
And that&#8217;s a ragged old flag you got hangin&#8217; on it&#8221;. 
He said, &#8220;Have a seat&#8221;, and I sat down, 
&#8220;Is this the first time you&#8217;ve been to our little town&#8221; 
I said, &#8220;I think it is&#8221; 
He said &#8220;I don&#8217;t like to brag, but we&#8217;re kinda proud of 
That Ragged Old Flag
&#8220;You see, we got a little hole in that flag there, 
When Washington took it across the Delaware. 
and It got powder burned the night Francis Scott Key sat watching it, 
writing &#8220;Say Can You See&#8221; 
It got a rip in New Orleans, with Packingham &amp; Jackson 
tugging at its seams. 
and It almost fell at the Alamo 
beside the Texas flag, 
But she waved on though. 
She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville, 
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill. 
There was Robert E. Lee and Beauregard and Bragg, 
And the south wind blew hard on 
That Ragged Old Flag
&#8220;On Flanders Field in World War I, 
She got a big hole from a Bertha Gun, 
She turned blood red in World War II 
She hung limp, and low, a time or two, 
She was in Korea, Vietnam, She went where she was sent 
by her Uncle Sam. 
She waved from our ships upon the briny foam 
and now they&#8217;ve about quit wavin&#8217; back here at home 
in her own good land here She&#8217;s been abused, 
She&#8217;s been burned, dishonored, denied an&#8217; refused, 
And the government for which she stands 
Has been scandalized throughout out the land. 
And she&#8217;s getting thread bare, and she&#8217;s wearin&#8217; thin, 
But she&#8217;s in good shape, for the shape she&#8217;s in. 
Cause she&#8217;s been through the fire before 
and i believe she can take a whole lot more.
&#8220;So we raise her up every morning 
And we bring her down slow every night, 
We don&#8217;t let her touch the ground, 
And we fold her up right. 
On second thought 
I *do* like to brag 
Cause I&#8217;m mighty proud of 
That Ragged Old Flag&#8221;</blockquote>

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WATCH: NFL Airs Patriotic Tribute To The American Flag During Super Bowl