When I attended grade school and high school during the Vietnam War era, an American flag hung in the corner of every classroom. The very first thing we did every morning was recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

Today, the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag has been reduced to a novelty and some sort of quasi-freakish event, worthy of front-page news in the Sun Journal.

The administrators at Poland Regional High School took several months to decide to allow their students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. What were they so concerned about? That somebody in the school might be offended by the Pledge of Allegiance? That some misguided parent might sue the school district for discrimination, demanding equal time for a pledge to the Canadian, French, Mexican or Somali flag?

What is even more disturbing is that, according to the Sun Journal article, some teachers at Poland Regional High School appeared to employ scare tactics to dissuade students from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at their school.

The stench of political correctness, not to mention political partisanship, has permeated the very fabric of our society.

Thousands of Americans have died to protect our right to recite these 31 words. If you are offended by these words, shame on you.

“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.”

Steve Troup, Rumford