LET PLEDGE BE PART OF AMERICAN FABRIC

It was good to see the Pledge of Allegiance return to La Grande High School today.

Frankly, we didnt know it had been missing.

LHS senior Angel Cripps led the charge to bring back the pledge, which apparently had been lying dormant at the school for about 20 years.

The schools Student Senate restored the pledge after Cripps circulated a petition, signed by115 of her classmates.

The pledge is being recited at 8:05 a.m. on Fridays and Mondays, starting today. It will be led by a student broadcaster on Tiger Television, the schools morning news program. Students throughout the building will be asked to stand and recite the pledge.

The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America was first published in the Sept. 8, 1892, issue of Youths Companion, a weekly magazine then based in Boston. It is believed to have been written by Francis Bellamy of the Companion staff. Congress added the words under God in 1954.

Every boy and girl in the United States should learn the pledge early in life and recite it often. The La Grande School District introduces the pledge to kindergarten students. Children are required to recite it in the first and second grades. Educators should encourage its use in all schools, whether they be public or private, elementary or secondary.

The pledge has a fresh ring of truth and importance to it following the Sept. 11 attacks. Americans must stay united while our government makes every effort to smoke out and eliminate terrorism as much as possible both at home and abroad. The pledge, recited regularly at ball games, in school classrooms, at service club meetings and even occasionally at church, will provide some of the necessary glue to keep us together.

EXPRESS OUR UNITY

Got a few extra minutes to spare Sunday afternoon, and want to spend them doing something meaningful for the nation?

Attend the Day of Unity service at Daniels Chapel of the Valley at 4 p.m.

Congress passed a resolution that Nov. 4, 2001, be declared a National Day of Unity to reaffirm the principles that have made our country flourish: one nation, under God, indivisible ... (see editorial above), and We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. ...

OREGON House Speaker Mark Simmons, R-Elgin, will address the group that gathers at the chapel at 1502 Seventh St. Contributions will be accepted for charities and a register will be available for people to sign and send along a note of encouragement to the families of victims of the attacks in New York City and at the Pentagon.

Americans have come together in many ways since the horrible events of September. Sundays service is one more way for people to express their unity and common purpose.