Alice S. Fuzzybutt
10-21-2001, 10:10 AM
I'm not sure if anyone else
has posted this recently. If
it has I apologize but I think
it's worth a double post!
~ASF
From a speech made by Capt.
John S. McCain, US, (Rep) 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 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 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."
-----
I wish I loved the human race; I wish I loved its silly face; I wish I liked the way it walks; I wish I liked the way it talks; And when I'm intoduced to one; I wish I thought, What jolly fun!
<IMG SRC="http://members.home.net/vitamin.d/referencepix/oswald.jpg">
has posted this recently. If
it has I apologize but I think
it's worth a double post!
~ASF
From a speech made by Capt.
John S. McCain, US, (Rep) 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 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 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."
-----
I wish I loved the human race; I wish I loved its silly face; I wish I liked the way it walks; I wish I liked the way it talks; And when I'm intoduced to one; I wish I thought, What jolly fun!
<IMG SRC="http://members.home.net/vitamin.d/referencepix/oswald.jpg">