What a travesty it is to even call Obama "a senator."
Posted on 02/28/2008 8:07:35 PM PST by granite
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, 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 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 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."
What an amazing story, sorry to ask, but has the story been vetted?
It strikes me as true, but in the internet age?
Definitely a good read.
Snopes says: TRUE.
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_mccain_pledge.htm
http://www.snopes.com/rumors/soapbox/mccain.asp
I remember hearing this story years ago. I didn’t know McCain had any part in it at all. Interesting to know he was there.
It’s been true for a lot longer than the Internet’s been around.
Snopes is run by a pair of Marxists who can't be trusted on anything.
Pledge of Allegiance bump!
Mike Christian’s Flag
By Joan Clifton Costner
(Contact: jody@ptsi.net)
Mike Christian is an American.
I don’t know where he was born,
But I know that when in our service,
He was a prisoner - wounded and worn.
Mike found a bit of color and
With a needle - all by hand,
Inside his shirt he constructed
Colors dear to his own land.
Every night, when guards were weary
And had gone somewhat away,
Mike would hang his shirt upon the wall -
All of the prisoners would say ...
“I pledge allegiance to the flag” ...
“One nation under God” ...
While their hearts enlarged within their breasts,
Longing for their own sod.
One day the guards came searching
And they found inside Mike’s shirt
The crudely constructed flag that served
To lift their spirits from the dirt.
Just outside the cell door,
Where everyone would hear,
The guards beat Mike Christian up
And took that shirt, so dear.
They threw Mike (broken, bleeding)
To the men, so they could see
The penalties, the pay-off,
For Pledging to Liberty.
The group gathered, all around him,
To clean and treat his wounds.
They only loved their land the more
And the flag, the symbol of truth!
There wasn’t much that they could do.
Their spirits sank so low.
They had seen the enemy faces
As they took their flag to go.
But, Mike Christian found a needle
And through bleeding, swollen, eyes,
His buddies watched in wonder,
As he began another surprise!
He took a bit of red,
a bit of white, a bit of blue.
He made the stitches, with torn hands,
and all of his buddies knew
Mike Christian was an American -
Through and through and through!
I tip my hat and wipe a tear.
I’d like for Mike to know
I fly Mike Christian’s flag at home,
In the face of terrorist foes!
Red, white, and blue, we love you
(Fly high across our land)!
The spirit of allegiance place,
In the heart of every man!
The spirit of courage and loyalty,
The spirit of purity, too;
Mike Christian’s flag! Fly high! Fly high!
Mike Christian’s red, white, and blue!
Compare and contrast this with the infamous photo of Barak Obama standing with his hands down while others put their hands over their hearts.
I predicated the link with “I don’t know.” Can you disprove it?
What a travesty it is to even call Obama "a senator."
Thank You. I need a tissue.
The hell you say. Oh, wait a minute. Yeah, I remember hearing that now.
You mention your five and one half years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War about as often as John Kerry did.
I still don't understand how that makes you an expert on the economy, on health care, on campaign finance reform, on energy policy, etc.
If that is what it takes to qualify someone to be a Senator or Congress-critter, then I would like it to be mandatory that everybody who wants to be one also spend five and one half years in a Vietnam prisoner of war camp.
You are welcome.
McCain Is currently running a campaign ad in Texas on the radio based on this story. At the end he swears he will never let the actions of our veterans to be in vain.
It is a very powerful ad.
Although McCaine was not my first, second, or even third choice, I'll take a true hero over either Obama or Hitlery any day of the week.
I'm just sick of hearing him tell us he was a prisoner of war. Okay, we get it. You were a prisoner of war. That makes you an expert on everything.
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