>John McCain's remarks about the pledge of Allegiance!
>
>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 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."
>
>
>PASS THIS ON... And on... And on! You can even send it back to me, I
>don't mind, because its worth reading again.
>
>
>