This in a speech made by Capt. John S. McCain; United States Senate, Arizona:
"As you may know, I spent 5 and 1/2 years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam war. In the early years of our imprisonment, the NVA kept us in solitary confinement of 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. He then 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 early noon, 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 of our lives.

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 us all, beat Mike Christian severely for the next couple of hours. Then, they opened the cell door and threw him in.

We cleaned him up as best we could.

The cell in which we lived had a concrete slab in the middle of the floor on which we slept. Four naked lightbulbs hung in each corner of the room.

As said, we tried to clean Mike up as well as we could.

After the excitement died down, I looked in the corner of the room. To my suprise, sitting there benieth the dim lightbulb was Mike. With a piece of red cloth, and a new bamboo needle, was my friend, Mike Christian beginning another American flag, his eyes almost shut from the beating he had received.

He was not making a flag because it made Mike Christian feel better. He was making that flag because he knew how important it was to us to pledge allegiance to our flag and our 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. Amen



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http://members.aol.com/amandaisflirt...s/tradesig.jpg
Captain of Bouncers, Boogre Bar

LH Member


"I've had it up to here, listening to a small segment of people try to put down America! America's the greatest land on Earth, and we oughta be proud of what we have! I'm proud of America, I'm proud of our people, and I'm gonna prove it. We're American and DAMN proud of it! Frankly I'm getting a little ticked off...go ta ****"... Dink (if anyone knows who originally said this, please let me know!)

WOW! Thanks you Liliara. I had never heard this particular story before, and I thought it deserved a *BUMP*

Note the sig!

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"In Memorium of those who are gone, and all those that bought our freedom with their hearts blood!"

"May the Colors of Liberty never run"
http://nachtrafe.7h.com/images/pledge.jpg http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/no...miles/hero.gif

Thanx for this post Liliara!

I had always thought McCain would have made a damn fine President...I still do!

Mark

#

Brainstorm? Electric shock treatment? Willy cut off by sadistic pixies? Toenails painted blue? What happened, dude...

DioCheetah, sobbing in disbelief.............



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Huh, Did I type something wrong????

Mark

Just kidding, sweetie, Dio and the Cheetah love you, you know we do... nuzzle nuzzle....... http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/no...les/LLkiss.gif (the kiss is from the Cheetah.....Dio just asked me to make that quite clear....http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/no...iles/smile.gif )



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Have you two been melded together into one being????? http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/no...iles/frown.gif

Mark

The wonders of science.

I take it this is a critter similar to the "Melusorick" that was wandering around IW for awhile (and comes back from time to time)? http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/no...miles/wink.gif



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http://www.wizardrealm.com/images/saz.gif

In response to Mark, Neb and Saz, yes, it is a similar crittur, although uniquely different by virtue of its very different components!

And don't worry Mark, the meld is only temporary - it was a transporter accident..... Mr Spock is working on the solution right now, and it'll all be fixed by the end of the episode. Give it 49 minutes or so.... Anyway, definitely by Monday, when you'll once again have TWO members of the illuminati at your back, rather than just the one....... http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/no...iles/smile.gif



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