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I Pledge
Allegiance
Let
me tell you what I think about our Pledge for Allegiance, our flag, and our
country. I want to tell you a story about when I was a prisoner of war. I
spent 5+ years in the Hanoi Hilton. In the early years of our imprisonment,
the North Vietnamese kept us in solitary confinement or two or three to a
cell.
In 1971, the North Vietnamese 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, led by people like Nancy and Ronald Reagan, on behalf
of a few hundred POWs, 10,000 miles from home.
One of the men moved into my cell was Mike Christian. Mike came from a small
town near Selma, Alabama. He didn't wear a pair of shoes until he was
thirteen years old. At seventeen, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He later
earned a commission. He became a Naval flying officer, and was shot down and
captured in 1967. Mike had a keen and deep appreciation for the opportunities
this country - and our military - provide for people who want to work and
want to succeed.
The uniforms we wore in prison consisted of a blue short-sleeved shirt,
trousers that looked like pajama trousers and rubber sandals that were made
out of automobile tires. I recommend them highly; one pair lasted my entire
stay.
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 piece of white cloth
and a piece of red cloth and fashioned himself a bamboo needle. Over a period
of a couple of months, he sewed the American flag 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 our cell, and say the Pledge of Allegiance. I know that saying
the Pledge of Allegiance may not seem the most important or meaningful part
of our day now, but I can assure you that - for those men in that stark prison
cell - it was indeed the most important and meaningful event of our day.
One day, the Vietnamese searched our cell and discovered Mike's shirt with
the flag sewn inside, and removed it. That evening they returned, opened the
door of the cell, called for Mike Christian to come out, closed 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 back inside. He was not
in good shape. We tried to comfort and take care of him 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 in each corner of the room.
After things quieted down, I went to lie down to go to sleep. As I did, I happened
to look in the corner of the room. Sitting there beneath that dim light bulb,
with a piece of white cloth, a piece of red cloth, another shirt and his
bamboo needle, was my friend, Mike Christian. Sitting there, with his eyes
almost shut from his beating, 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 for us to be able to
pledge our allegiance to our flag and country.
Duty, Honor, Country. We must never forget those thousands of Americans who,
with their courage, with their sacrifice, and with their lives, made those
words live for all of us.
John McCain
United States Senator, Arizona
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