The following has been verified

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:

"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 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 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."

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Though this article is nice reading it contains only partial truths.
Verifications for correctness can be found on Snoops
http://www.snopes.com/military/marvin.asp
The following is the undocumented version. I have added comments for Lee Marvin, Bob Keeshan and Fred Rogers in red.

Captain Kangaroo (Bob Keeshan) passed away on January 23, 2004 as age 76 , which is odd, because he always looked to be 76. (DOB: 6/27/27.) His death reminded me of the following story.

Some people have been a bit offended that the actor, Lee Marvin, was buried in a grave alongside 3 and 4 star generals at Arlington National Cemetery. His marker gives his name, rank (PVT) and service (USMC). Nothing else. Here's a guy who most people thought was only a famous movie star who served his time, why the heck does he rate burial with these guys? Well, following is the amazing answer:

I always liked Lee Marvin, but didn't know the extent of his Corps experiences.

In a time when many Hollywood stars served their country in the armed forces often in rear echelon posts where they were carefully protected, only to be trotted out to perform for the cameras in war bond promotions,
Lee Marvin was a genuine hero. He won the Navy Cross at Iwo Jima. There is only one higher Naval award...... the Medal Of Honor.

(Actually he received a Purple Heart during the battle for Sipan and indeed is interred in Arlington)
 

If that is a surprising comment on the true character of the man, he credits his sergeant with an even greater show of bravery.

Dialogue from "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson": His guest was Lee Marvin. Johnny said, "Lee, I'll bet a lot of people are unaware that you were a Marine in the initial landing at Iwo Jima......and that during the course of that action you earned the Navy Cross and were severely wounded."

"Yeah, yeah.....it's true, I got shot square in the bottom and they gave me the Cross for securing a hot spot about halfway up Suribachi. Bad thing about getting shot up on a mountain is guys getting' shot hauling you down. But, Johnny, at Iwo I served under the bravest man I ever knew...... We both got the cross the same day, but what he did for his Cross made mine look cheap in comparison. That dumb guy actually stood up on Red beach and directed his troops to move forward and get the hell off the beach. Bullets flying by, with mortar rounds landing everywhere, and he stood there as the main target of gunfire so that he could get his men to safety. He did this on more than one occasion because his men's safety was more important than his own life."

"That Sergeant and I have been lifelong friends. When they brought me off Suribachi we passed the Sergeant and he lit a smoke and passed it to me, lying on my belly on the litter and said, 'Where'd they get you Lee?' Well Bob...... if you make it home before me, tell Mom to sell the outhouse!"

"Johnny, I'm not lying, Sergeant Keeshan was the bravest man I ever knew."

"That Sergeant's name is Bob Keeshan. You, I, and the world also know him as Captain Kangaroo."
 

(Actually Bob Keeshan enlisted 2 months before his 18th birthday, several months after the fighting at Iwo Jima, too late to see any action. In a 1977 interview, Keeshan explained he “enlisted” in the US Marines but saw no combat because he signed up “just after we dropped the atom bomb”)

On another note, there was this wimpy little man (who just passed away) on PBS. Gentle and quiet, Mr. Rogers is another of those you would least suspect of being anything but what he now portrays to our youth. But Fred Rogers was a U.S. Navy Seal, combat-proven in Vietnam with over twenty-five confirmed kills to his name. He wore a long-sleeved sweater on TV, to cover the many tattoos on his forearm and biceps. He was a master in small arms and hand-to-hand combat, able to disarm or kill in a heartbeat.

After the war Mr. Rogers became an ordained Presbyterian minister and therefore a pacifist. Vowing to never harm another human and also dedicating the rest of his life to trying to help lead children on the right path in life. He hid away the tattoos and his past life and won our hearts with his quiet wit and charm.

America's real heroes don't flaunt what they did; they quietly go about their day-to-day lives, doing what they do best. They earned our respect and the freedoms that we all enjoy today.

Look around and see if you can find one of those heroes in your midst .

Often, they are the ones you'd least suspect, but would most like to have on your side if anything ever happened.

Take the time to thank anyone and everyone that has fought for our freedom. With encouragement they could be the next Captain Kangaroo or Mr.Rogers
 

(Fred Rogers never served in the military)

The Pledge of Allegiance

(verified)

as given by Red Skelton on January 14, 1969

During the night of January 14, 1969, Mr. Skelton was speaking about his boyhood memories of school. He stated that one of the things that really stood out was the way one of his teachers presented the Pledge of Allegiance. Following is the monolog he presented.

"I've been listening to you boys and girls recite the Pledge of Allegiance all semester and it seems as though it is becoming monotonous to you. If I may, may I recite it and try to explain to you the meaning of each word?

Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country,
and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance - "under God."
Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said, " That is a prayer,"
and that would be eliminated from schools, too?"

Red Skelton

Click here to hear
Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegiance

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