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 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.

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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 sever ely 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 f lag 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 nationunder God, indivisable, with liberty and justice for all.'


PASS THIS ON... And on... And on! You can even send it back to me, I don't mind, because its worth reading again.


oh......and then you have this clown, who refuses to place his hand on his heart and say the pledge......

Subject: Remember this picture on election day!
Let's all remember this on election day...if you have family serving in the military, make sure you send it along. I had heard about this but a picture is definitely worth 1000 words! God save us!!!
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Senator Barack Obama, Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Hillary Clinton and Ruth Harkin stand during the national anthem.
Barack Hussein Obama's photo (that's his real name).....the article said he REFUSED TO NOT ONLY PUT HIS HAND ON HIS HEART DURING THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, BUT REFUSED TO SAY THE PLEDGE.....how can a man like this expect to be our next C ommander-in-Chief

LAWLZ I LUV SPAM EMAILS! Only thing better then spam emails is when they're spammed up in a forum context!


C'mon man...seriously? Debates & Heated arguments?

And why is it that people supporting Hilary and McCain like to stress that Obama's middle name is Hussein and that makes him an enemy of the US? I'm pretty sure the part about him refusing to say the pledge is false as well, or he has a really good or really stupid reason for not doing so besides hating the US.

they actually had that picture in video form on the news not to long ago and yes they said he refused to.... it may be spam email to you hatchet but i think its a good dicussion peice myself...

thats so stupid lots of people have hussain as a name and that makes them bad y?

Didn't even read it.

It's an inspirational story of McCain in the POW camp and then it says how Obama hates America and is a terrorist because his middle name is Hussein and he didn't say the pledge. He obviously had a reason. Probably not a good one, but he doesn't hate America. Oh, but he's black, he's hung out with slum lords, his middle name is Hussein, and he was photographed in traditional Muslim dress, even though it is custom to go places and wear their clothes, so he isn't fit to lead our country. We should all elect someone who is willing to point out all these stupid reasons not to elect the other candidates.

Atleast change the font... no one wants to scroll down for an hour reading font thats size 40.

Who cares why he didn't say the pledge? Personally I want it to disappear. This sort of things makes me wish I weren't american.

the pledge?!!!!!!