Why Pledge?

I am sitting at Starbucks, peppermint mocha at my side, reading Catch-22. Have you ever experienced that awkward moment where you want to burst out laughing, but know you’re in a public place and it probably wouldn’t be a good idea? That’s what I experienced as I read my ninth section of Catch-22.

Captain Black is very proud. And with pride comes the need to be the best. To prove he is the best, Captain Black has come up with a scheme. He would make his squadron more loyal than all the other ones by making them sign loyalty oaths. If someone entered his tent, they would have to sign a loyalty oath. He loved his system so much; he soon changed it to two loyalty oaths. Then three. Then four. Soon, along with the loyalty oaths, they are also required to say the pledge of allegiance and sing “The Star Spangled Banner.” Then Captain Black, in attempt to justify himself, says something very interesting: “The important thing is to keep them pledging… It doesn’t matter whether they mean it or not. That’s why they make little kids pledge allegiance even before they know what ‘pledge’ and ‘allegiance’ mean.”
Is this true? I have always found the idea that small children are taught to pledge allegiance in school when they don’t know any current events, specifics about government, or even that much about American history. Is it fair to make them make pledges like this when they don’t even know what they’re pledging too? I strongly support the fact that we aren’t forced to say the pledge. However, I often wish it wasn’t said at all. It causes so much confusion and no one even really knows exactly what you’re pledging too. What’s so important about a flag? It represents our country. So why not just say, “I pledge allegiance to the United States of America”? This is something that has always confused me and I’m glad they brought it up in this book.