Our flag has 45 stars. But when you look closely, it seems the original pattern was 3 rows of 8, and 2 rows of 7 -- a total of 38 stars. The U.S. flag evolved from its original 13-star version in 1777. By 1877, it gained the 38th star. That was 27 years after our house was built (in 1850), and 15 years after the battle of Antietam claimed 23,000 lives.

In 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor cost us 2400 lives. If you had been walking up Roxbury Street the next day, you would have seen the final 45-star version of our flag. Adopted in 1896, it celebrated the admission of Utah and was the nation's official flag for 12 years. But it remains our home's official flag because no more stars were ever added.

September 11, 2001, marks our nation's third catastrophic loss of life in war, and largest since Antietam -- almost 5000 lives lost. The nature of war has changed. But when you walk up Roxbury Street today, you can see the same flag that flew 15 years after Antietam.