POST SCRIPTS

In the sixties, radical activists transformed college campuses into private anti-American war zone playgrounds. Americans, for the most part, put up with the inconvenience; free speech authorized their voices and citizens tolerated the disruptive and often violent actions as temporary aberrations of a "troubled youth". It was not then, and it is not now, merely an indication of "troubled youth". This "movement" continues today in order to undermine the Constitution through "revolurion". However, there is a marked difference on campus today as one young woman's outspoken declaration indicates:

The move...has infuriated some of their classmates -- prompting one young woman to loudly recite the pledge in front of the board on Wednesday night in defiance of the rule. "America is the one thing I'm passionate about and I can't let them take that away from me," 18-year-old political science major Christine Zoldos told Reuters. "The
fact that they have enough power to ban one of the most valued traditions in America is just horrible," Zoldos said, adding she would attend every board meeting to salute the flag. All I can say is BRAVO! The activist student has the right to have his point of view but it warms my heart to hear that others stand up to support the flag.
Bending to the will of the few is not noble or admirable. My journey continued...

An email from a friend was next to grab my attention and I smiled at life's subtle nudgings. This one came in the form of a story as told by John McCain for the book, "Chicken Soup for the Veteran's Soul". How appropriate, I thought, that the college activist's outrage should be followed by this amazing story:

John McCain shares a story about of a fellow named Mike, shot down in 1967 and captured by the Vietnamese. Mike grew up poor in Alabama, wrote McCain. "He didn't wear shoes until he was 13 years old. Character was
his only wealth."

Mike made a needle out of a piece of bamboo and gradually sewed scraps of red and white cloth into an American flag. He sewed the flag onto the inside of his prisoner's shirt. Every afternoon, the American prisoners hung Mike's flag onto the wall and said the Pledge of Allegiance.

One day, the guards discovered the flag and confiscated it. They beat Mike severely, puncturing his eardrum and breaking several ribs. Later, after everyone else had fallen asleep, Mr. McCain noticed Mike in the corner under the light bulb. His eyes nearly swollen shut, Mike quietly picked up his needle and began sewing a new flag."

What an incredible contrast: on the one hand, a soldier in a foreign land, beaten, tortured and yet stubbornly refusing to give up his allegiance and his flag, and on the other hand, a young college activist refusing to honor the flag that represents... his freedom to dishonor it! Hope for the continuance of freedom on this campus resides in the
person of Christine Zoldos who's raised voice echo's across the generations. She shares the same love of country and flag as that patriot from long ago, a soldier named Mike defying his captors in Vietnam forty years ago.

The end to my weekend patriotic quest across the web came in a "http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2006/11/11/news/casper/48b7c639a0715d548725722300089994.txt"> color = red>heartwarming story from Casper Wyoming:

Sixth-grader Chelsea Cook invited her dad to her school Friday. He got there early, wearing a Veterans of Foreign Wars cap decorated with a row of pins, including a good conduct medal.

Jack Cook sat in the school library with other veterans who drank coffee, ate cinnamon rolls and talked about whether they still fit into their old uniforms.

Soon a teacher came in and told a group of student mentors wearing special t-shirts, to usher the veterans downstairs into the school gymnasium. Any who needed to use the elevator could, the teacher said, which made some older vets laugh and elbow each other.

The school wanted to give something back to veterans but also wanted something from them: a chance to teach the students about citizenship and their country...Renee Burgess had a request for the students. When they see a veteran, at the mall or at a restaurant, go up, and shake their hand and say thank you.

"They'll know what you mean," Burgess said. The gesture will show the young people, Burgess said, a feeling of gratitude. "If you just say it one time, you'll understand."

Two girls, who later read essays on "What America Means to Me," handed a carnation to each veteran, and the students applauded as each name was read. Several teachers, the assistant principal and the school's head custodian stood to receive their flowers.

The young activists at Orange coast College in California, clad in "revolutionary-styled berets", would probably be uncomfortable with this little display of appreciation and patriotism. They might find it a bit corny or think it stupid but more than that they seem to experience such things as "oppressive". I suggest they are victims of their own
illusions caught in bondage with imagined restraints. In truth they are not required to say the pledge, they are not required to speak the words "under God". They are not being oppressed yet they feel compelled to protest and in so doing simply refuse to live freely in a free country. They represent "much ado about nothing" and "sound and fury signifying nothing".

The future of America resides in all of these young people. Color me corny if you must, but I believe the young people who gathered in a Casper school to honor our veterans reflect a bright future for America and for each individual who calls America his home. We must cultivate bright engaging and respectful young minds and never, ever Fail to pass on the truth of our founding, our heritage and the sacrifices given in the name of freedom and the flag.