The Truth Behind the Flag

Dear Kneeling Football Players,

As has been a custom since the beginning of your league,

Every game beings after the Anthem has been sung.

This is not just in your sport,

But in all, across the board.

Custom also dictates, for everyone,

Not just you,

That for respect, we all must stand,

Silent, eyes on the flag.

We are also asked to remove our hats.

Whether you stand at attention,

Like a soldier,

With your hand over your heart,

Like they taught in school,

Or just stand,

Because it’s what you do.

You stand.

You stand silent and still,

While the anthem is sung.

A very simple task.

I’ve seen toddlers stand still longer.

I understand the reason you take your knee.

Whether it is for a political movement you stand with

Or just against the man you claim is not your president.

You have your reason.

But allow me to tell you,

A fact that has been neglected,

One that many have forgotten.

When you stand for the flag and the anthem,

The respect is not for the politics going around,

Nor for the person who resides inside the Old White House.

It is for the men and women,

Our soldiers,

Who bled and fought and died.

All those men and women,

Both alive and in the ground.

Perhaps you have forgotten,

What your history books did teach,

About the Revolution.

All those men who died for the dream.

The dream of a country.

A country strong and free.

Many died for that dream.

Many before it became a reality.

But non-the-less,

They fought and died,

To gain the freedoms you enjoy today.

When you kneel, claiming your First Amendment,

Do you even stop to think about all those who died for it?

From the time of the Revolution to today?

Have you thought of the families left behind?

The broken homes that will never see the face of their loved one again?

All the children who will never get to know their parent or grandparent?

All the soldiers who made friends while away from home?

True friends, who they watched being carries off on a gurney?

Watched in agony, knowing that they may never see them again?

Didn’t get the chance to watch them be carried off the field as there are no time outs in war?

All the sacrifices made so that you could take that knee?

Let me tell you something that few know about the flag.

Something I learned from my dad, a veteran.

Fifty stars,

One for each of our states.

Together in unity,

On the flag as they are in the country.

Thirteen stripes,

One for each of the thirteen original colonies.

The homes of those who initially won you the freedoms you enjoy today.

Red,

For hardiness and valor,

Like all the bloodshed,

The price of your freedoms.

White,

For purity and innocence,

Like the children,

And everyone else their sacrifice was for.

Blue,

For vigilance, perseverance, and justice,

What keeps our soldiers going,

So that we can have the latter.

So, when you say,

You take the knee

To support a cause,

Or to show your opinion about our leader,

Know this:

You do neither.

What you do is disrespectful.

What you do is atrocious.

You take your knee,

Claiming your First Amendment.

You use the freedom that someone’s blood purchased for you,

And you disrespect them.

You belittle their sacrifice.

The flag stands for our freedom.

The freedom won through blood.

We honor the flag to honor our soldiers.

We honor the flag to honor their sacrifice.

When you take that knee,

Using the freedom they purchased for you,

In their own blood,

You disrespect them.

What you say your actions are for,

Are not what they’re for.

Whether you realize it or not,

When you take that knee,

What you are doing is

Showing your ignorance,

Perhaps even apathy,

As you chose not to fully inform yourself.

So, before the next time you take your knee,

I ask you,

Think of our soldiers,

Who the flag really stands for.

For the freedoms they purchased for you,

In their own blood.

Think of their families.

Their friends.

Then ask yourself,

Is “supporting your views”

Really worth dishonoring and disrespecting them?

Sincerely,

The Daughter of a Veteran from a Proud Military Background