AN EMAIL I RECEIVED AND WISH TO SHARE

Judy Webb Mays - jmays@49countynews.net

I am passing on another email that I received from a relative.  I feel it has a lot to say about our Country and how we respect the sacrifices it has taken to give us the freedoms we have and I would like to share it with any who want to read it.

I understand that we don't all feel the same way about everything but I will defend your right to that freedom and hope you would do the same for me!

This story comes from a former Prisoner of War.  One who defended our Country and spent over a year and a half as a Prisoner of War for doing his duty.  I respect what he says.  He has done more for this USA than I have and something I would be terrified to do.  I don't know if I would have the courage to survive it.  I cry when I read the poignant words.

We are, after all, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and we should be proud of OUR COUNTRY!  If we are not proud and patriotic about a country that has given us the freedom that so many others covet, then who will?  WHY would all these people want to leave their countries and come to ours?  Is it not for the freedoms we enjoy?  How about the quality of life?  I know, some of us don't have all we wish but isn't it available if we work for it?  How would you like it if you were jailed for voicing your opinion or passing on these kinds of emails?  Aren't you glad you have these freedoms?

At the bottom of the page you will find links to show the source of the story about the email. You will also find other links to research the court ruling and news stories about it.

Thank you for reading and please feel FREE to voice your opinion on our Letter to the Editor Page!  Just remember to give your real name and address to be printed with your opinion and don't slander anyone.  Thanks again, Judy Webb Mays  1/28/08

In light of the recent appeals court ruling in California, with respect to the Pledge of Allegiance, the following recollection from Senator John McCain is very appropriate:
1.) Elk Grove Unified School District ET AL. v. Newdow ET AL.

2.) Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

3.) Fox News Story about the court ruling.

4.) http://www.snopes.com/rumors/soapbox/mccain.asp

Actual E-Mail, Verbatim

John McCain's remarks about the Pledge of Allegiance!

"The Pledge of Allegiance" - by Senator 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 (North Viet Nam Army) kept us in solitary confinement or two or three to a cell. In 1971 the NVA (North Viet Nam Army) 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 c an 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 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 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 our allegiance to our flag and 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."

PASS THIS ON.. and on... and on! You can even send it back to me, I don't mind, because its worth reading again.

  *  http://www.snopes.com/rumors/soapbox/mccain.asp