Sunday, November 2, 2008

MY VOTE - MY VOICE - MY CHOICE FOR INTEGRITY

As I prepare to vote for the next President of our great country on Tuesday, November 4th, I have based my choice on the principles found in the Bible.


I find McCain to be a man of integrity, honor & truth.


A man I feel not only can, but will, lead our country back to the moral standards so needed to day.


'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 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 4o 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 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 enlisted in the U.S. 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 knewhow 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.

"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."

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13 comments:

Susan said...

Wow, Susan, I had not heard that story. It's a great one...what a testimony to what happened in so many of those prisons...

Thank you for posting.

susan

Anonymous said...

I surely feel a lot better about McCain as president than Obama. I am just real uncomfortable and have that nagging doubt about Obama

Yellow Rose Arbor said...

Hi Susan, I have heard that great story before and, guess what -- I went to high school with this Mike Christian!! I'm sorry to report that he died a while ago. He left a wonderful legacy though, didn't he?

I have just posted a long message on Power of Prayer answering questions. Please join us in the discussion!

Katherine

Dawn said...

Wonderful story. There is only one logical and moral choice in this election. I pray for the right result!

Brenda said...

Exactly what our pastor spoke about today. I choose righteousness. Great story.
God bless,
Brenda :)

Unknown said...

I'm in full agreement with this. I know God is listening to our prayers but we must be diligent to keep on praying no matter what the outcome is. I have felt a sense of peace in the last couple of days. I still think McCain can be our next President, I will not give up hope for that.
I have posted a link to Focus on the Family with an important letter by Dr James Dobson. check it out.

Anonymous said...

I'm so tired of hearing about change. People want change just for the sake of change, not necessarily to make things better.

All I can say is that I'm glad my God never changes and I will continue to seek him and follow his ways. Integrity is my choice, too!

Jill said...

This is the first I've heard that story. It's wonderful. Amen.

Carole Burant said...

Such a touching story, it brought tears to my eyes. One can't even imagine what these POWs went through. It certainly will be very interesting to find out who your next president will be!! xoxo

Tammy said...

I hadn't heard this story, either...so moving!

(Interesting, the word verification below is "march" and that somehow struck me as appropriate...)

Praying for this election- and for our nation!!!

MightyMom said...

thanks babe, I'm reposting this.

Maxine said...

Susan, we had the same idea! I posted about my choice for President also as we head into this historic day. Thanks for posting this inspiring story.

Momma Roar said...

Wow, that is powerful and amazing!