Posted on 12/22/2007 9:30:20 AM PST by Responsibility2nd
My Christmas Story
As a POW, my captors would tie my arms behind my back and then loop the rope around my neck and ankles so that my head was pulled down between my knees. I was often left like that throughout the night.
One night a guard came into my cell. He put his finger to his lips signaling for me to be quiet, and then loosened my ropes to relieve my pain. The next morning, when his shift ended, the guard returned and retightened the ropes, never saying a word to me. A month or so later, on Christmas Day, I was standing in the dirt courtyard when I saw that same guard approach me. He walked up and stood silently next to me, not looking or smiling at me.
After a few moments had passed, he rather nonchalantly used his sandaled foot to draw a cross in the dirt. We stood wordlessly looking at the cross, remembering the true light of Christmas, even in the darkness of a Vietnamese prison camp. After a minute or two, he rubbed it out and walked away.
That guard was my Good Samaritan. I will never forget that man and I will never forget that moment. And I will never forget that, no matter where you are, no matter how difficult the circumstances, there will always be someone who will pick you up and carry you. May you and your family have a blessed Christmas and Happy Holidays,
But I found the same commercial at.....http://www.c-span.org/rss/video.asp?MediaID=33932
Merry Christmas Sen. McCain.
It was a very powerful message.
Wow. Amazing story.
And amazing, the power a single Jewish, peasant laborer has had in the lives of men for 2,000 years.
Surley he was the Son of God.
Yes he was; and don’t call me Shirley.
It is the best political ad so far.
Wow. That was a powerful message. A Merry Christmas to you and yours, Senator McCain.
Our personal relationship with Jesus Christ is ahead of all other relationships in our lives.
Personal, vocational, governmental...
You’ll see similar WWII accounts from US soldiers held as POWs in Japanese prison camps. Their Christian guards often showed stealth kindnesses.
:-(
One heck of a story.
By the way, I enjoyed McCain’s memoir - what was it called, “Faith of My Fathers”? I may not vote for the man, but he has some amazing stories to tell. I recommend it if you have not read it.
I will vote for McCain if he’s our nominee - don’t want to but the alternative of Hill is unacceptable to me. I have two friends who were POWs with McCain - Bud Day (winner of the MoH and has just come out and indorsed him) and Ken Cordier - very involved in the Swift Boat Vets....I admire both of them so if they can vote for McCain, then so can I. I saw the ad and it is truly one of the best this political season,....
I read it, Boughtit during 2000 election. Mccain autographed it for me when i went to see him in zilenople pa
Udall developed Parkinson's disease and was forced to resign from Congress in 1991. Debilitated, he was confined to a hospital bed in Washington, DC. For seven long years until his death he lay there forgotten by all of his former colleagues, constituants, allies, friends and admirers. Except for one.
Parkinson's is not a pretty disease. It makes you uncomfortable to be around. You don't know how to act, you don't know what to say. But for all those years there was one visitor that Mo Udall could count on. Rain or shine, political firestorms aside, there was one man who would show up every week to sit and visit with his old friend. That man was John McCain.
Wow. I didn’t know that. Thanks for sharing, MONK! :)
Christmas bump.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.