In the Words of John McCain

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 in 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 POW's 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 inlisted in the U.S. Navy. He later earned a commission by going to Officer Training School. Then he became a Naval Flight Officer nad was shot down and captured in 1967. Mike had a keen and deep aprectiation of the opportunities this country and our militay-provide for people who want to work and want success.

As part of the change in treatment, the Vietnamese allowed some prisoners to recieve 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 months he created an American flag and sewed it 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 kow 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 meaningfull 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 severly of teh next couple of hours. Then, 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 mikkle on which we slept. Four naked light bulbs 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, 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 that flag because he knew how important it was to us to be able to Pledge our 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.

Pledge of Allegiance

"I pledge allegiance to the flag fo the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisble, with liberty and justice for all."

The Flag of the United States of America

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