A Speech given by Senator John McCain concerning Patriotism

[VIETNAM 1968]

I frequently receive E-Mails from fellow Vietnam Veterans on various subjects. The good ones I then like to share with all my Vietnam Veteran Brothers and Sisters, through this excellent Web Sight. Most of the entries are informative in nature, while some are written to convey special feelings that I still have concerning my own Tour of Duty in Vietnam. The following entry however brings out both of the above intentions at the same time and literally brought tears to my eyes as I read it. It also made me really proud to state that I am also an American that did a Tour of Duty in Vietnam

The entry is about a regular GI who refused to submit to the North Vietnamese, after he was taken as a Prisoner of War. His determination rose far above any obligation that any American GI has to resist his captives, once imprisoned. It is a TRUE STORY which Senator John McCain personally observed during his own time spent as a Prisoner of War.


A speech made by Captain John McCain, United States Navy (Retired) who now represents Arizona in the United States Senate and entitled "The Pledge of Allegiance"


"As you may know, I spent five and a 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; One, two or possibly three to a cell. In 1971 the NVA moved us from these conditions of isolation into large rooms with as many as thirty to forty 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 Prisoners of War that were 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 did not wear a pair of shoes until he was thirteen years old. At seventeen, he enlisted in the United States 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 that this country, and our military, can provide for people who want to work and want to succeed.

As part of the previously mentioned change in treatment, the Vietnamese allowed some prisoners to receive packages from home. In some of these packages were scarves and other items of clothing. Mike got himself a bamboo needle.

Over a period of a couple of months, Mike created an American Flag and he then sowed 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 American Flag sewn inside. They then removed it. That evening they returned, opened the door of the cell, and for the benefit of all of us, then beat Mike Christian severely for the next couple of hours. After the beating, they then opened the door of our cell again and threw Mike back 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. 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 just received, and making another American Flag.

Mike Christian was not making the flag because it made him 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.

Please join with me now and recite our Pledge of Allegiance: "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 all my Vietnam Veteran Brothers and Sisters I now state:

WELCOME HOME:


VIETNAM 1968

[1CAVCCO15MED]

Most folks when they see the flag see stars and stripes and know it symbolizes our country. They take somewhat more pride in it than they do their favorite sports team's symbols. When I see the flag I see faces, remember voices and remember names. It stirs my heart not so much with pride as with memories of what it takes to keep it flying and keep us free. It is in no way an abstract symbol. It cost blood and pain and death. And it was worth it.