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| Flag Salutes By Jack Pellerin May good thoughts and patriotism prevail. We are so glad that Columbus did sail. Our founding fathers set us on course, after our Minutemen had to use force. As our U.S.A. matures and grows, We stand tall against all foes. So, with pride we pledge to Old Glory, With free wills, we say the words non-obligatory. North to South, East to West, We live in a Country that’s best! Under the stars and stripes, We should limit our gripes. Paying our taxes can be rough, But we can stand tough. For we get the biggest “bang for our buck”, And living in the Central Coast is our good luck. So, please face our flag with pride, And with the words in our pledge…abide. Well, the Holiday Season is now upon us, And we hear that Santa now wears a truss. Carrying that heavy bag of toys, For all good girls and boys, finally put a strain on Santa’s gut. He now at times walks like a robot. But…. you can still count on him to stand tall, When he salutes our flag he won’t fall. Wherever free men gather, Wherever there is justice, equality, Faith, hope, charity, Truth and brotherly love, There too our flag fly’s proudly! I pledge allegiance… Our flag has draped the caskets Of our Nation’s Heroes, Presidents, Generals, Admirals, humble Privates And the Unknown Soldier. These are just a few reasons why We proudly Pledge our Allegiance… Old Glory has been flown above the decks Of Old Ironsides, and Has been carried through many battlefields. Today we recall our flag being held high through The Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli. So we as free men and women salute our flag…. Remember when we say, “ One Nation Under God”, It matters not what your religious belief, It only matters that you believe in a “ Supreme Being “, and that you hold your faith and practice it daily. Proudly under our Nation’s flag, We will preserve our beliefs forever And abide by the words: “Stars and Stripes Forever”. From Sea to Shining Sea, We should all be the best we can be. Our Country may have faults it’s true, But it’s still the best under the Red, White and Blue. So let’s continue to really participate And always help to make our Country great! As we now salute Old Glory Which enjoys a patriotic Historical story Oh Say Can You See From Sea to Shining Sea And over Purple Mountains Majesty. Our flag is a symbol of our Liberty, So, let’s salute Old Glory with energy! “Stars and Stripes Forever”, “The Star Spangled Banner”, “You’re a Grand Old Flag”, are songs that honor our flag and adds to our patriotism, so… let’s enthusiastically honor our flag today as we say…. Thanksgiving is just a short time away. We should dwell on all the benefits we enjoy. Thanks for our Country, Thanks for our Central Coast, Thanks for our Santa Ynez Valley, Thanks for our Men’s Forum made up of such great guys! And Thank God for our flag And the patriotism we proudly display As we say… Please join me in honoring the men and women, Both living and dead who have helped make our Country Great. Let’s also pray for God’s wisdom to be bestowed On Gail Marshall, John Buttny, and Lansing Duncan To educate them that our flag pledge Is not divisive but is actually unifying. Now please join me in honoring Old Glory…. July 4th, December 7th,and September 11th are days We shall always remember. On July 4th, we celebrate our independence, And on December 7th and September 11th, We suffered devastating attacks on our lives and freedoms. But when the smoke and dust cleared, Old Glory remained a symbol of renewed strength and patriotism! We are indeed, the land of the free And we love to hear “Oh Say Can You See”, And we’re privileged to salute Old Glory As we proudly pledge to thee…. When we honor and salute our flag; It’s OK to brag. We live in the best Country on Earth And we want the world to know, This is the land of the free, Detractors know where they can go. So, as proud Americans we say…. The Red, White and Blue Represents freedoms for me and you. The Stripes and Stars Means independence is ours. Never be sorry To honor Old Glory. So here’s to our liberties in the good old U.S.A. As with patriotism and appreciation we say…. Patriotic talk is no proof of patriotism. Anyone can wave a flag. The real Patriots live their patriotism in everything they do. So let’s pledge our allegiance to the Red, White and Blue. Kennedy’s inaugural let every nation know Whether it wishes us well or ill, That we will pay any price, Bear any burden, meet any hardship, Support any friend, oppose any foe To assure the survival and success of Liberty. And now we have the Liberty to say…. The Constitution of our Country; Liberty, Freedom, Independence, and Patriotism are just words But when we pledge allegiance to our flag. These words have treasured meaning and they come alive. I pledge… In God we trust, God shed his grace on thee, One Nation under God, God bless America; Whoever you envision as your God Should be in your mind as we pray and say…. |
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| From Red Skelton’s Pledge of Allegiance: Flag-Our Standard, Old Glory, A symbol of Freedom wherever she waves, There’s respect because your loyalty has given her dignity That shouts Freedom is everybody’s job. Now with loyalty and dignity we say…. Does anyone under the age of 50 Know the lyrics to the “The Star Spangle Banner”? Just look to the Seniors with tears in Their eyes and pride in their hearts As they stand at attention With their hands over their hearts! Remember…Inside every older person Is a younger person Wondering what happened! So let’s take our older hands and Place them over our older hearts And with pride and honor say…. Please join with me, Close your eyes and relax, Envision rolling hills with Plush green grass. Now envision numerous neat rows Of white crosses under which Lie the remains of those who died While protecting our Liberties and our Flag. We shall never forget them For what they did for us And we think of these National Heroes As we say…. The Netherlands’s Flag is also Red, White and Blue And is symbolic of their taxes. They get Red when they talk about taxes, They turn White when they get their tax bill, And they turn Blue after they pay their taxes. In our U.S.A., it’s the same but we also see Stars as well. So, let’s salute our beautiful Red, White and Blue. Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell, Mount Rushmore, Iwo Jima Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Old Glory, The Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson Memorials, and the Washington Monument to name a few, are all symbols of our freedoms And liberties that have been fought and died for. Now let us with pride and humility salute the flag That so many heroes protected for us to live in freedom today. United we stand, As we get excited to hear Sousa’s Band, Marching to great songs never bland, With musical sounds heard from as far as Iwo Jima's sand. So…. On your heart place your hand And join me in pledging to our flag unfurled so grand! The year 2002 has just gone away; And we join together again today. We thank God for allowing us to survive, For, as freemen we remain more than just alive. As once more we exercise our privilege and our right, To pledge allegiance with our eyes bright, For our red, white and blue is a colorful sight. We now shall face our flag with good cheer, As we welcome this New Year, And salute our flag without any fear. Hip, Hip, Hooray! We are a Forum in the U S of A. In all our endeavors, let God be our guide. If we are honest and true, he’ll be on our side. Special thanks we give to fellow member Ed Ando, He brings our flags and collects our pickled herring and dough. He also provides us with books and fruit to help us grow. Ed’s a FARMER DELUXE and he’s always “in the know”. Now let’s stand with our heads held high, Face Old Glory and your patriotism MAGNIFY! The USA has an abundant supply of leadership, Though we in the SYV Forum run a loose ship. We all respect our leader Harris Sherline, Who provides us his OPINIONFEST under his bi-line. He’s always on top of current events, And he’s never known to be on the fence. He does his homework and is opinionated, From his E-Mail, quality humor is appreciated. So let’s honor Harris as we salute our Flag, Please face the red, white and blue and don’t lag, As we say……….. With one heart and one voice We salute the flag of our choice Fill our thoughts with thankfulness For our freedoms, justice and happiness Our country is the sweet land of liberty Where we are free to achieve prosperity So with appreciative hands over our hearts we say… Throughout our patriotic national history, Heroes have had their lives put at great risk. They have protected and preserved our liberty, And often their life endings have been grotesque. Statistics may show the numbers of wounded and dead, But these are just numbers without any emotion, That fail to describe their painful sufferings that we dread, Experienced as their last measure of devotion. So that we here today can salute the flag they so honored; With their lives and recoveries so nobly endured. Today we lovingly celebrate Valentine’s Day, With our spouses, significant others and close friends. We open our hearts and kind words we say, For it is always with mutual respect that love depends. Now, together with love and friendship we face old glory, As patriotism and dedication should also be part of Cupid’s love story Thank God for Betsy Ross who made our first flag, Its colors and style causes Uncle Sam to brag. Lady Liberty stands tall in New York Harbor, She carries a torch but loves our flag with ardor. We should agree that burning our flag is taboo, Fortunately those idiots that do, are so very few. Francis Scott Key saw our Star Spangled Banner clearly wave, Above the smoke and flames of our land of the brave. Now it’s our turn to honor and salute our flag and our freedoms save. Our Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard, Are the best in the world and they have trained very hard. When they see Old Glory wave in the breeze, They smartly stand at attention and salute with ease. They have great respect for valiant heroes whose reputations last, And are devoted to carry on the traditions established in the past. Our armed forces secure our safety and maintain the peace. Their shoes are shined and their pants have a sharp crease. Looking good is half the battle and they do it well. Let’s salute our flag, under God, one Nation indivisible. Today as we salute Old Glory, Join me in honoring survivors of our National heroes. They are the family members, friends and associates, Who are the loving support group for our wounded and dead. They go through long periods of caring, easing pain, grieving and providing comfort. Often never ending, their sense of loss can be a life-long memorial To their faithful departed loved ones. So, let’s never forget them and remember these heroes And their survivors in our prayers. I pledge allegiance… The S.Y.V. group is loaded with “Movers and Shakers” They are participative generous givers, not “takers”. They have accomplishments and strong qualities of leadership, And their patriotism is a worthwhile purpose of their membership. They enjoy food, fellowship and our speaker’s informative oratory We value our freedoms and take pride in honoring Old Glory Now let’s face our flags and pledge our allegiance, And we should think of what we say and speak with eloquence. What should we do about Saddam Hussein and Iraq? A solution would be to exile him to Little Rock. It’s a wonder why we have taken so long To resolve his problem because he is so wrong. You would think we would have learned, ding-dong, After: Hitler; Mussolini; Stalin; Hirohito; Kim IL Jong, And Ho Chi Min; Mao Te Tung; Osama bin Laden belong. Other folks of disdain include the Devil and his throng, As well as Kaiser Wilhelm and even Jane Fonda came along. Our leaders in comparison are righteous and really strong. Thank God we’re alive and free today, So let’s salute our flag as we say… Ed Andrisek and Jack McCord have heads that are bare. Prior to birth, they were asked to declare, Would you prefer to have brains or hair? Their decision is obvious and we’re proud of this pair. Their patriotic participation as they rise from their chair, Is most welcome as they salute the best flag anywhere. As they stand tall, they are truly debonair. Now we proudly join them with savoir faire, I pledge… S.Y.V. Forum records show our average age is eighty-five. 0ne thing sure, we that are here are very much alive. And for continued good quality life we shall always strive. Ways to do this, each of us will surely contrive; Even if we should start to exercise and all that jive, Before, we must after all these years, take that final dive. Maybe with luck, we can all survive until one hundred and five. Now those of us that can still stand, join me in a salute to our flag. We can pledge our allegiance and say each word without a snag. God Bless America with symbols including our noble Bald Eagle, Our stately Uncle Sam and our meaningful Flag. Our Statue of Liberty and her torch welcomes all visitors to our shores. We enjoy beautiful and spacious skies from the Pacific to Atlantic Oceans. We have Canada to the North and Mexico to the South as neighbors. We leap over land and sea to reach Alaska and Hawaii. We are truly “One Nation under God” and we treasure our Republic, our Independence, our Liberties and our Freedoms. For all these reasons we thank God for the privilege to Pledge our Allegiance to our Country and its Flag. Unfortunately, an aggressive atheist is Michael Newdow. He fights for his very small minority cause like a commando. Disrespectively, he wants to throw the word “GOD” out the window. This greatly offends our flag provider, Ed Ando. * We all agree with Ed’s opinion that Newdow’s rating is low. ** It’s definitely not an issue between Church and State, so… Mr. Newdow, you must learn to go with the flow, And our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, you DO-DO! Saying “One Nation under GOD” is not a specific religion so it’s up you’ve got to grow. Now as we say our Pledge, let’s emphasize “One Nation under GOD”, Without this phrase in our Pledge, it would just be too odd. *or…It’s obvious that Newdow has stooped too low. ** We should put him in a boat and to Cuba make him row |
| Editor’s Note: Jack has served as the master ceremonies, keynote speaker, chairman and about any other position that would be an appropriate for to call for a flag salute. If Jack is the crowd you can almost bet there is a better then an even chance that he will be called upon to lead the flag salute. Here are a sampling of why he is in so much demand as he has made this great American tradition somewhat untraditional but none the less meaningful. Enjoy! |