Tuesday, July 04, 2006

HAPPY 4TH...

I am busy busy busy today canning/juicing tomatoes and making apple jelly, and don't have but a few seconds to blog today, so I thought that I would share a story that I dearly enjoy reading each and every year on this wonderful day.


The following words were spoken by the late Red Skelton on his television program as he related the story of his teacher, Mr. Laswell, who felt his students had come to think of the Pledge of Allegiance as merely something to recite in class each day.

I

me, an individual, a committee of one.

PLEDGE

dedicate all of my worldly goods to give without self pity.

ALLEGIANCE

my love and my devotion.

TO THE FLAG OF THE

our standard, Old Glory, a symbol of freedom. Wherever
she waves, there's respect because your loyalty has given
her a dignity that shouts freedom is everybody's job!

UNITED

that means that we have all come together.

STATES OF AMERICA

individual communities that have united into 48 great states.
Forty-eight individual communities with pride and dignity and
purpose; all divided with imaginary boundaries, yet united to
a common purpose, and that's love for country.

AND TO THE REPUBLIC

a state in which sovereign power is
invested in representatives chosen by the
people to govern. And government is the people
and it's from the people to the leaders, not from
the leaders to the people.

FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION
one nation, meaning "so
blessed by God"

INDIVISIBLE

incapable of being divided.

WITH LIBERTY

which is freedom -- the right of power to live one's
own life without threats, fear or some sort of
retaliation.

AND JUSTICE

the principle or quality of dealing fairly with others.

FOR ALL

which means, boys and girls, it's as much your
country as it is mine.

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?

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

HOPE EVERYONE HAS A GREAT 4TH...

3 comments:

Rachelle Jones said...

yummmmy...

home canned tomatoes

I swear there is not anything better on the planet...

Call Me Grandma said...

Canning already. Our canning season starts in August.
I hope you had a good fourth.

MajorDad said...

I've always loved Red's Pledge routine...as I've always felt he might have been one of the last of old Hollywood patriots. Don't get me wrong, I'm damned glad that we have Gary Sinese, Tom Selleck and other in our corners, but folks like Danny Glover, Susan Sarandon, and the others staging their PHONY hunger strikes get much more ink than the former stars mentioned.

Thank you for your son's service...just to let you know, my son picked up the mantle just a few months before yours left and he's finishing up his tour in Kirkuk. Hope to have him home in Germany sometime this fall...and back in the states by Christmas. Thank you for raising a son that understands Red's message so well.

See you on the high ground.

MajorDad1984



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