THE STARS and stripes were raised Monday in the the immediate
Eastern Ohio area and elsewhere, but this didn't involve flags
with 50 stars. With flags having 15 stars and 15 stripes,
Ohioans and others through the nation Monday were marking the
200th anniversary of the declaration of war for the War of 1812.
The Governor's War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission enlisted help
from officials in all 88 counties to draw attention to this
important time in the nation's history and Ohio's involvement in
the three-year conflict. ONE of most memorable reports related
to United States' naval history stems from that war. It was
Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry's dispatch to Major Gen.
William Henry Harrison when he reported, "We have met the enemy
and they are ours - two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one
sloop." Perry's dispatch resulted from his victory over the
British during the Battle of Lake Erie off the coast of Ohio in
1813. The victory opened up the Great Lakes region and land west
of Ohio for settlers.