"The Pledge of Allegiance" - by Senator John McCainAs you may know, I spent five and one half years as a prisoner of warduring 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 roomswith as many as 30 to 40 men to a room.This was, as you can imagine, a wonderful change and was a direct resultof the efforts of millions of Americans on behalf ofa few hundred POW's 10,000 miles from home.One of the men who moved into my roomwas 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 commissionby going to Officer Training School . Then he became aNaval Flight Officer and was shot down and captured in 1967.Mike had a keen and deep appreciation of the opportunities this country andour 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 celland say the Pledge of Allegiance.I know the Pledge of Allegiance may not seem themost important part of our day now, but I can assure you thatin that stark cell it was indeedthe 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 forthe 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 middleon 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 excitementdied down, I looked in the corner of the room, and sitting there beneaththat dim light bulb with a piece of red cloth, another shirt and hisbamboo needle, was my friend, Mike Christian. He was sitting therewith his eyes almost shut from the beating he had received,making another American flag. He was not making the flag because itmade Mike Christian feel better. He was making that flag because he knewhow 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 couragethat thousands of Americans have made to build our nationand 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 Americaand to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God ,indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
The Pledge of Allegiance - by Senator John McCain
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• 感动!美国人挺爱国的,学生念pledge of allegiance,体育比赛前唱国歌.谢谢分享^_^ -京燕花园- ♀ (0 bytes) () 08/16/2014 postreply 21:41:39
• 小时候也常为自己国家的国旗、国歌而感动。现在想来,是感动于人类生发的那种神圣而庄严的精神。现在,俺的祖国,这种神圣、庄严感已消失 -eRandom- ♀ (0 bytes) () 08/16/2014 postreply 22:41:30
• 真是感人!让人想起江姐狱中绣红旗。 -南山松- ♀ (0 bytes) () 08/17/2014 postreply 16:41:36
• Pledge to memorize those who fight to protect our freedom. -~叶子~- ♀ (0 bytes) () 08/18/2014 postreply 20:05:34