----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob Tinney" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "Bob Tinney" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, March 23, 2008 4:08 PM
Subject: Worth Reading: Pledge of Allegiance by John McCain


> I've seen this before, but it's worth reading again!
> Bob, [log in to unmask], K8LR
> Skype name:  bobtinn
> Live Long and Prosper!
>
>
> In light of the recent appeals court ruling in California, with respect to
> the
> Pledge of Allegiance, the following recollection from Senator John McCain
> is very appropriate:
>
> The Pledge of Allegiance' - by Senator John McCain
>
> As you may know, I spent five and one half years as a prisoner of war 
> during
> the
> Vietnam War. In the early years of our imprisonment, the NVA kept us in
> solitary confinement or two or three to a cell. In 1971 the NVA moved us
> from
> these conditions of isolation into large rooms with as many as 30 to 40 
> men
> to a room.
>
> This was, as you can imagine, was a wonderful change and was a direct 
> result
> of
> the efforts of millions of Americans on behalf of a few hundred POWs 
> 10,000
> miles from home.
>
> One of the men who moved into my room was a young man named Mike 
> Christian.
>
> Mike came from a small town near Selma , Alabama. He didn't wear a pair of
> shoes
> until he was 13 years old. At 17, he enlisted in the Navy. He later earned
> a commission by going to Officer Training School. Then he became a Naval
> Flight
> Officer and was shot down and captured in 1967. Mike had a keen and deep
> appreciation of the opportunities this country and our military provide 
> for
> people who want to work and want to succeed.
>
> As part of the change in treatment, the Vietnamese allowed some prisoners 
> to
> receive packages from home. In some of these packages were handkerchiefs,
> scarves
> and other items of clothing.
>
> Mike got himself a bamboo needle. Over a period of a couple of months, he
> created an American flag and sewed it on the inside of his shirt.
>
> Every afternoon, before we had a bowl of soup, we would hang Mike's shirt 
> on
> the
> wall of the cell and say the Pledge of Allegiance.
>
> I know the Pledge of Allegiance may not seem the most important part of 
> our
> day
> now, but I can assure you that in that stark cell it was indeed the most
> important and meaningful event.
>
> One day the Vietnamese searched our cell, as they did periodically, and
> discovered Mike's shirt with the flag sewn inside and removed it.
>
> That evening they returned, opened the door of the cell, and for the 
> benefit
> of
> all of us, beat Mike Christian severely for the next couple of hours. They
> opened the door of the cell and threw him in. We cleaned him up as well as
> we
> could.
>
> The cell in which we lived had a concrete slab in the middle on which we
> slept
> and four naked light bulbs hung in each corner of the room.
>
> As I said, we tried to clean up Mike as well as we could. After the
> excitement
> died down, I looked in the corner of the room and sitting there beneath 
> that
> dim light bulb with a piece of red cloth, another shirt and his bamboo
> needle,
> was my friend, Mike Christian. He was sitting there with his eyes almost
> shut from the beating he had received, making another American flag. He 
> was
> not
> making the flag because it made Mike Christian feel better. He was making
> that flag because he knew how important it was to us to be able to Pledge
> our
> allegiance to our flag and country.
>
> So the next time you say the Pledge of Allegiance, you must never forget 
> the
> sacrifice and courage that thousands of Americans have made to build our
> nation
> and promote freedom around the world
>
> You must remember our duty, our honor and our country
>
> 'I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of Ameri ca and to 
> the
> republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with
> liberty
> and justice for all.'
>
> PASS THIS ON... and on... and on! You can even send it back to me, I don't
> mind,
> because its worth reading again!
>
>
>