Research - Rehabilitation - Re-Employment

Sgt. Shaft 06/28/2004

Dear Sgt. Shaft:
The Supreme Court made our Flag Day. Their ruling means the nation’s public-school teachers will not be banned from leading their students in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Anyone with common sense realizes that the Pledge of Allegiance is a secular building block in the development of good citizenship. The words “under God” are a tribute to America’s constitutionally protected religious freedom, not a prayer. There is nothing wrong with schoolchildren acknowledging the fact that the founders of our republic openly stated in their writings before the Pledge was even developed: The United States is indeed "one nation under God."

After President Bush justly directed the government’s attorneys to appeal the Ninth Circuit’s ruling, I am proud to say that The American Legion filed a brief to the Supreme Court in support of the government.

We may not have heard the last from those who would rewrite constitutional law to make atheism the official state religion. Whenever and wherever challenges to the constitutionality of the Pledge will be raised, the men and women of The American Legion will be there, fighting with all of our legal and legislative might, to protect the right of schoolchildren to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

John Brieden
National Commander
The American Legion
Washington

Dear Commander

As you know the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights recently voted on a straight party line of (Republicans 5, Democrats 4), approving a Joint Resolution (S.J. Res.) 4, the constitutional amendment to prohibit the physical desecration of the American flag.

The resolution now goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee, prior to consideration by the full Senate. Once approved by the Judiciary panel, a Senate vote on the amendment could take place any day in the next month prior to Independence Day.

I join you in urging members of The American Legion Family to contact their senators who are on the Judiciary Committee and ask them to support passage of S.J. Res. 4 when the full committee meets.

Dear Sgt Shaft
I want to thank you for the generous assistance you gave my daughter, Dorothy, in obtaining a "Order of he Blue Nose" Certification card for me. I was one of 9 survivors from the 34 personnel in the Navy Command Center on 9-11. The replacement of the Blue Nose Card means a lot to me as an "old Navy guy" remembering a time in which our potential enemies were clearly identified and were not cowardly jackals who hijacked airliners to carry out their evil designs. (I never thought I would give our Soviet Navy counterparts any words of appreciation.)

Keep up the good work in protecting the interests and obtaining justice for our veterans. Thank you. Respectfully,

Paul B
Arlington VA

Dear Paul,
A special thanks should also go to on of my favorite flaks, Navy Captain Kevin Wensing in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy. He spearheaded the effort to obtain your “bluenose special”.

Shaft Notes
Kudos to Pitney Bowes for launching their "Memorial Day Letter Writing Campaign" that has helped children in schools in several cities around the country write letters to U.S. Marines who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. This program is in conjunction with their ongoing "Powering Literacy" program,

As part of the program, children in the fifth through eighth grades at participating schools experienced the opportunity to learn about the Marine Corps and Memorial Day from Marine representatives and gain valuable letter-writing skills. Pitney Bowes also provided the writing materials to create personalized letters and metered the mail for delivery.

The Sarge salutes the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNS), Learn and Serve for issuing grants totaling more than $4 million to support activities that teach students about and engage them in efforts related to the homeland security needs of the nation. The grants will go to 10 agencies and nonprofit organizations, including six state departments of education, which will then make “sub-grants” to local organizations and education agencies. All told, scores of organizations will receive funds, and tens of thousands of young people will become better prepared to deal with emergencies.

“These organizations represent the cream of the crop in terms of devising innovative ways to use America’s youth as a resource to plan for and respond to the health, safety, and security concerns associated with natural and manmade disasters,” said David Eisner, CEO of CNS, which oversees Learn and Serve America. “Young people often feel great anxiety when facing unknown dangers. Their participation in these programs should give them the knowledge and power they need to deal positively with those fears and to make an important contribution to the security of their communities.”

The grantee organizations will all use service-learning, an approach to education that links community service to academic achievement, as a means of increasing students’ awareness of potential dangers and preparing students, communities, and schools for any emergency. “The service-learning model can be an excellent means of training students in homeland security activities,” said Amy Cohen, Director of Learn and Serve America. “These grants will advance our knowledge of the most effective ways to help young people get involved in a critically important issue to our communities early in life,” she said.

Learn and Serve America received a total of 57 applications, and approved just 10 grants. The awards range in size from $185,000 to the California Rural Health Board, which serves the needs of the state’s Indian population, to $486,418 to the Indiana Department of Education.

Send letters to Sgt. Shaft, c/o John Fales, P.O. Box 65900, Washington, D.C. 20035-5900; fax to 301-622-3330; call 202-462-4430 or email sgtshaft@bavf.org.

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