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."
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."
