HotShot_Anthony
Greaser of the Year
ya know, we kid Russ a lot, I thought that I would share this email about another guy from Selma...
JOHN MCCAIN'S REMARKS ABOUT THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE!!!
(CHECKED THIS OUT THRU TRUTH AND FICTION, THIS IS TRUE!)
___________________________________________________
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, 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 Off icer 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."
JOHN MCCAIN'S REMARKS ABOUT THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE!!!
(CHECKED THIS OUT THRU TRUTH AND FICTION, THIS IS TRUE!)
___________________________________________________
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, 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 Off icer 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."
