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Author Topic: Just an American  (Read 342 times)

Offline AWMac

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Just an American
« on: July 01, 2005, 10:24:03 PM »
When I grew up in the late 50's, early 60's I was young, went from Cub Scout and admired those that were Boy Scouts..some day I'd be a Boy Scout.  I remember the day my Cub Scout pin got turned from upside down to right side up.  I was a Cub Scout!!!

Funny how life changes. I became a Boy Scout.. did the best. Had 21 Merit Badges, Life Scout on the way to Eagle...
9th Grade to 11th Grade I was on Wrestling team..placed 4th in my weight class..so be it.. Track and field I lettered in.

In my Life I have never regretted anything. If I had it all to do over again, maybe my Golf swing.

What touches my Heart tonight is that in my Town everyone has said...This is just a reminder of what all Americans sacrifice... not just one day but many...

Right now I hear Firecrackers, Cannon Burst, Stars...Thorought my Neighbour hood.  Regardless of Political affiliation. We are one, Americans.

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

  When I was in 1st Grade it was an Honor to do the Pledge of Alligence..

The Pledge of Allegiance
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.

We sang "America the Beautiful"...and "My Country"  Did air raid drills. Kennedy was the President.  The Beatles came to America.
VietNam was as new as the Hoola Hoop and Friesbee...Kennedy, Race to putting Man on the Moon, Bobby Kennedy '68. Martin Luther King '68...

Life changes and also seems to repeat its self...

Ahhh I'm just mumbleing...

Just want to say ...

God Bless America...Again, Look over us.

mac

to all.
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Offline Sandman

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Just an American
« Reply #1 on: July 01, 2005, 10:28:00 PM »
This is the only oath that ever meant anything to me:

Quote
I, _____________________________ ______, do solemly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed overme, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.



IMHO, the pledge of allegiance is trite and meaningless.


Oh... happy 4th. :)
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sand

Offline Toad

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« Reply #2 on: July 01, 2005, 10:33:49 PM »
It's just so hard to get civvies to take and honor that oath.

They can handle the pledge because it really doesn't require them to do much. Not so the other one.

Happy 4ht Mac. Long may she wave!
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!

Offline Sandman

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« Reply #3 on: July 01, 2005, 10:37:21 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Toad

They can handle the pledge because it really doesn't require them to do much. Not so the other one.


Exactly. It's meaningless. Most people don't even realize what their saying when they recite it. I think this began in grade school when we said it every single day and none of us knew or cared what it meant.
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sand

Offline Toad

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« Reply #4 on: July 01, 2005, 10:44:41 PM »
Or you can consider that possibly some understood it then and it led them to the second, more demanding oath.

There are many paths, grasshopper.
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!

Offline Sandman

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Just an American
« Reply #5 on: July 01, 2005, 10:47:16 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Toad

There are many paths, grasshopper.


...and mine is quite cynical. ;)
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sand

Offline Toad

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« Reply #6 on: July 01, 2005, 10:49:04 PM »
Yeah, the cynibird swoops in and grabs a lot of youse grasshoppers.
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!

Offline Hangtime

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« Reply #7 on: July 01, 2005, 11:05:50 PM »
Old Pharts addendum to the early bird and the worm thing..

the real moral is, the worm shoulda slept in.

We do the pledge at club meetings, flying meets, play the Star Spangled Banner.

It means something. Folks get on their feet. Nudge the guy next to 'em, 'take of yer hat.' The hands come up, cover their hearts..

I Pledge Alliegance
To The Flag
Of the United Stares of America.
And to the Republic, for which it stands..
One Nation.
Under God.
Indivisible,
With Liberty
And Justice
For all.

I took the oath too, Sandy. Was a hell of a moment.

But I make the pledge a few times a month...  and it still means something too.

At least.. to me.

Maybe it's meaningless to todays kids.. maybe it won't be when they get to be old pharts like me.

Would hate to see it removed from our schools.
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The price of Freedom is the willingness to do sudden battle, anywhere, any time and with utter recklessness...

...at home, or abroad.

Offline Toad

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« Reply #8 on: July 01, 2005, 11:14:40 PM »
The flag's a symbol; it's visual shorthand for the invisible Republic.

Maybe it fell on my ears this way:

I Pledge Alliegance
To the Republic
Of the United Stares of America.
One Nation.
Under God.
Indivisible,
With Liberty
And Justice
For all.

We're one of the few that pledges allegiance to what amounts to an idea in the minds of some old dead smart guys.

No allegiance to Kings, Queens or Princes here.
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!

Offline Sandman

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« Reply #9 on: July 02, 2005, 01:50:00 AM »
That's better, Toad.


I can't see the point of pledging allegiance to a flag, whatever the flag may be.
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sand

Offline lasersailor184

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Just an American
« Reply #10 on: July 02, 2005, 02:11:21 AM »
I actually do agree with Sandy on this one.


The Pledge of Allegiance is so over used and so over repeated throughout a child's life that it has no meaning.

If you ask a kid to recite it, he's going to have trouble.

But if you get one kid going, all the other kids will have no problem reciting it together with him.
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Offline Furball

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« Reply #11 on: July 02, 2005, 03:30:23 AM »


:D
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Offline Maverick

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« Reply #12 on: July 02, 2005, 09:05:33 AM »
From the time I was old enough to really analyze the pledge, say last week or so, I also understood it to be a symbolic situation. The flag, being inanimate and cloth and all, just didn't care. It did, however, represent something much larger than a piece of cloth. Perhaps that is why it is such a contentious thing when someone uses it to make a point. It belongs to all of us as citizens and some feel it is their right to express dissatisfaction by destroying the symbol, while others feel outrage at their symbol being desecrated.

People of all walks of life have differing values about the place where they  live. Some love it, others just look at it as where they happen to exist. I am gratefull that there are allowances in this country for competing points of view. If everything were always held uniformly there can't be freedom in it's true sense. Freedom has to have conflict as an expression of it's own existance.

Thanks and a huge to those who sacrificed to gain then preserve that freedom as well as this country.
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DEFINITION OF A VETERAN
A Veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life."
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Offline Shuckins

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« Reply #13 on: July 02, 2005, 09:23:00 AM »
"One Nation...with Liberty and Justice for All."  

That's what it's all about boys.  It has meaning and should be recited and pondered on a regular basis.
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Offline StarOfAfrica2

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Just an American
« Reply #14 on: July 02, 2005, 05:28:44 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Sandman
That's better, Toad.


I can't see the point of pledging allegiance to a flag, whatever the flag may be.


Maybe thats because your ideals have a different symbol.  But for most of us, the flag is it.  I read this a long time ago, and I still think of it every time I see a flag flying at a school or the post office.

Quote
I am the flag of the United States of America.


I was born on June 14, 1777, in Philadelphia.


There the Continental Congress adopted my stars and stripes as the national flag.


My thirteen stripes alternating red and white, with a union of thirteen white stars in a field of blue, represented a new constellation, a new nation dedicated to the personal and religious liberty of mankind.


Today fifty stars signal from my union, one for each of the fifty sovereign states in the greatest constitutional republic the world has ever known.


My colors symbolize the patriotic ideals and spiritual qualities of the citizens of my country.


My red stripes proclaim the fearless courage and integrity of American men and boys and the self-sacrifice and devotion of American mothers and daughters.


My white stripes stand for liberty and equality for all.


My blue is the blue of heaven, loyalty, and faith.


I represent these eternal principles: liberty, justice, and humanity.


I embody American freedom: freedom of speech, religion, assembly, the press, and the sanctity of the home.


I typify that indomitable spirit of determination brought to my land by Christopher Columbus and by all my forefathers - the Pilgrims, Puritans, settlers at James town and Plymouth.


I am as old as my nation.


I am a living symbol of my nation's law: the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.


I voice Abraham Lincoln's philosophy: "A government of the people, by the people,for the people."


I stand guard over my nation's schools, the seedbed of good citizenship and true patriotism.


I am displayed in every schoolroom throughout my nation; every schoolyard has a flag pole for my display.


Daily thousands upon thousands of boys and girls pledge their allegiance to me and my country.


I have my own law—Public Law 829, "The Flag Code" - which definitely states my correct use and display for all occasions and situations.


I have my special day, Flag Day. June 14 is set aside to honor my birth.


Americans, I am the sacred emblem of your country. I symbolize your birthright, your heritage of liberty purchased with blood and sorrow.


I am your title deed of freedom, which is yours to enjoy and hold in trust for posterity.


If you fail to keep this sacred trust inviolate, if I am nullified and destroyed, you and your children will become slaves to dictators and despots.


Eternal vigilance is your price of freedom.


As you see me silhouetted against the peaceful skies of my country, remind yourself that I am the flag of your country, that I stand for what you are - no more, no less.


Guard me well, lest your freedom perish from the earth.


Dedicate your lives to those principles for which I stand: "One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."


I was created in freedom. I made my first appearance in a battle for human liberty.


God grant that I may spend eternity in my "land of the free and the home of the brave" and that I shall ever be known as "Old Glory," the flag of the United States of America.
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