thedrifter
07-03-02, 04:57 PM
> 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
> 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