This rendition of America’s National Anthem is performed by the 2nd Armored Division Band based in Fort Hood, Texas. Also known as the “Hell on Wheels Band,” they were originally part of Colonel George S. Patton’s tank command during World War II.
When not performing The Star Spangled Banner, the 2nd Armored Division Band were charged with “headquarters defense of base operations” under the command of the 502d Adjutant General Company.
Central Texas College, located in Kileen, Texas initially opened in 1967 and was, in fact, built on 500 acres of Fort Hood land donated around 1965. The curriculum caters primarily to military studies.
The Star Spangled Banner, a Francis Scott Key poem grafted onto a popular British drinking song called “To Anacreon in Heaven,” was originally adopted by the US Navy in 1889. It was proclaimed the national anthem by a congressional resolution and was signed into law by President Herbert Hoover in 1931.
In the United States, it would became the custom that before large sporting events or when a television channel would sign-on or sign-off for the evening, the National Anthem would be played.
