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Be Proud of The Pledge
> From a speech made by Capt. John S. McCain,
> US, (Ret) who represents Arizona in the U.S. Senate: > > 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." Sempers, Roger
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IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY HUSBAND SSgt. Roger A. One Proud Marine 1961-1977 68/69 http://www.geocities.com/thedrifter001/ |
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