In a day and age when multi-million dollar NFL athletes led by Colin Kaepernick are shamefully disgracing our country, flag, veterans, law enforcement and first responders by taking knees during the National Anthem, a bunch of unpaid athletes playing for the love of the game of baseball, and a non-profit American Legion organization are doing the opposite.
First and foremost I will make my stance clear: there is never any excuse to take a knee during the our National Anthem. Period. I will never accept any arguments otherwise. Never ever do you disgrace the veterans that have died for this country, been injured, have fought, have served, have sacrificed, and that includes veterans of every race, gender, and socio-economic background. Also on this list I include law enforcement, firefighters, and EMT workers. They put their lives on the line every day for us and this country.
Now, do I acknowledge that there have been problems? Yes, but the mainstream media has continually blown things out of proportion for ratings and a clear political agenda. Some of the attention has been needed to help bring some fixes on a case-by-case basis. But overall, this is by far the best country in the world as a whole, and it’s not even close really. Travels outside its borders will make you see how fortunate Americans have it, and it won’t take long.
And let’s point out right now that it’s because of our real heroes that grown men playing a kids’ sport are making millions and millions of dollars while most Americans go to work every day just to do all they can to support their families, many working more than one job.
Well, I am proud to report that, once again, the American Legion organization is doing things right. On Saturday, August 18 at Veterans Field at Keeter Stadium in Shelby, USAA Military Appreciation Day was held and it was a thing of patriotic beauty. Yes, while some of our politicians are shamefully promoting socialism and communism, which is absolutely astounding given the over 200 million deaths its caused throughout history, and terror groups such as the fascist ANTIFA organization are busy on the left coast ganging up and applying cowardly whippings to the elderly and a small Asian journalist, the American Legion, its teams, fans and the fine people of Shelby, N.C., and from all over the country, were celebrating our fine men and women of our armed services.
Decorated veteran Hal Fritz was awarded the Medal of Honor on Saturday and addressed the crowd after the opening game of the day while hundreds of other veterans filed onto the field, including the 505th Engineer Combat Battalion.
The honor and pride felt in that small stadium would put to shame anything that the bumbling NFL commissioner Roger Goodell could stage in any of the billion dollar stadiums which are often paid for by hard-working Americans and their taxpayer dollars. And the smiles and tears exhibited by the veterans and active duty soldiers is something that one could not forget. You could tell that they truly felt appreciated, and that’s something that we, as Americans, should always make sure that they know.
And the National Anthem had an extra special feel on Saturday, and younger generations were being shown what it means to be an American, and what heroes truly are.
As for Goodell and Kaepernick, you two may be millionaires, but I promise you one thing, you will never be half the men that Josh Woods, a Siler City Firefighter and EMT who lost his life in the line of duty on January 12, 2016, or Luke Moody, an Officer in the US Navy, who we lost on June 24, 2018, were. God gave me the privilege of coaching both and I would not trade that experience for any of your millions. And that holds true for the likes of Cliff Brooks, Justin Patterson, Will Cockman, Derrick Lee, Tyler Bridges, Stacy Baldwin, Ben Hadley, Dexter Snipes, and many others who are firefighters, military, police, sheriffs, and EMT’s. The same goes for my former teammates such as Mike Bullis and Jeff Griffith. Those are examples of real heroes in this country, and not some over-paid prima donas.
And you can believe as long as I have a breath in me, I will never disrespect any of those young men or any other veterans, military, law enforcement personnel or first responders by taking a knee, I will ALWAYS stand in their honor during the National Anthem. It’s the least I can do for those that do so much.
