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" - 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, 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 US 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 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.
Then, 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. 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 America and
to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible,with
liberty and justice for all."
respect to the Pledge of Allegiance, the following recollection from Senator
John McCain is very appropriate:
"The Pledge of Allegiance" - 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, 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 US 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 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.
Then, 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. 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 America and
to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible,with
liberty and justice for all."
