John McCain, U. S. Senator from Arizona and one time Republican Party Presidential Nominee, was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who went on to become a naval aviator, flying ground-attack aircraft from carriers during the Vietnam War. He was almost killed in the horrible fire that occurred aboard the USS Forrestal in 1967.
Later that year, Captain McCain was flying a bombing mission over Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam, when he was shot down. Seriously injured, he was taken captive, where he was held as a prisoner of war for the next five and a half years.
Along with numerous other prisoners, he experienced recurring episodes of horrific torture all throughout his imprisonment. In spite of this, we are told, he refused all out-of-sequence early repatriation offers. Sadly, however, lifelong physical limitations have accompanied him as a result of his brutal internment in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton”.
Twenty one years later, in a speech given before the 1988 Republican National Convention, then freshman U.S. Senator McCain related the following story.
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 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 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! And may God look after and bless all those who have sacrificed so much to make the rest of us free!
SOURCE: http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/m/mccain-flag.htm#.UdQ-msfD85s. Note that this story occurs in several variations on the internet; but that it is deemed true by most all websites specializing in matters relating to issues of veracity. Check also: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/jul/02/chain-email/fellow-pow-acks-up-mccains-story/. (Note: If the politifact site defaults to its home page, just key in POW FLAG in the search bar.) See as well http://www.snopes.com/rumors/soapbox/McCain.asp.
Later that year, Captain McCain was flying a bombing mission over Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam, when he was shot down. Seriously injured, he was taken captive, where he was held as a prisoner of war for the next five and a half years.
Along with numerous other prisoners, he experienced recurring episodes of horrific torture all throughout his imprisonment. In spite of this, we are told, he refused all out-of-sequence early repatriation offers. Sadly, however, lifelong physical limitations have accompanied him as a result of his brutal internment in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton”.
Twenty one years later, in a speech given before the 1988 Republican National Convention, then freshman U.S. Senator McCain related the following story.
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 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 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! And may God look after and bless all those who have sacrificed so much to make the rest of us free!
SOURCE: http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/m/mccain-flag.htm#.UdQ-msfD85s. Note that this story occurs in several variations on the internet; but that it is deemed true by most all websites specializing in matters relating to issues of veracity. Check also: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/jul/02/chain-email/fellow-pow-acks-up-mccains-story/. (Note: If the politifact site defaults to its home page, just key in POW FLAG in the search bar.) See as well http://www.snopes.com/rumors/soapbox/McCain.asp.