The Uniform

I still get a swell of pride when I think back to February, 1954, at the age of 18 (yes, I'm 82) when I raised my right hand, pledged, and committed to four years of my life to the United States Air Force. When I talk to many of my friends that wore The Uniform  I get the same respnse of pride when talking about their own particular military lives and stories.

I also remember what my first squadron commander said, "You may never see any combat in your four USAF years, but that doesn't mean you won't if ordered to". Like so many other men/women who served before and those in the future we all honored our military commitment, along with honoring our flag and National Anthem. We pledged that if called upon we would go into combat, or wherever we were ordered to serve our country. 

When I see someone refusing to stand for our National Anthem or the Pledge to our flag I harbor a feeling deep inside me that screams aloud in my brain, I bet they never wore The Uniform. Any man/woman who was ever honored and privileged enough to serve in the military for our country just would never kneel  during our National Anthem or would never desecrate our flag and what it symbolizes. 

I'm 82, and if asked today to put my Air Force uniform on and serve I'd fly into my crawl space to look for a dusty old uniform that I'm sure wouldn't fit anymore, but I guarantee my heart would be right there, and so would millions of my fellow veterans. There may a few misfit vets out there, but has anyone ever seen anyone who wore The Uniform kneel during the Anthem or refuse to pledge to the flag. 

George Clooney, Madonna, Ashley Judd, Chelsea Handler, Rachel Maddow, Whoopi Goldberg, Samuel Jackson, Al Sharpton, Chris Matthews, Jessee Jackson, Michael Moore,  Amy Schemer, Colin Kaepernik, Joy Behar, Bill Maher, Steve Colbert, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Joy Reid, Nose Streisand, Bruce Screamsteen, Katy Perry, Jimmy Kimmel, Labron James, Pocohantus Warren, Max Kellerman, Stephen Smith etc., OK can I stop now? Oh, I could go on adding to this elite list, but you get my point.

What do all of these elites mentioned above have in common? Not a single one of them ever wore The Uniform . No, but you can bet they spend most of their air time speaking out against our country, our flag, and our honored National Anthem, and we all know this is based on their hatred of our President.  Thousands upon thousands of men/women made the ultimate sacrifice  in America's wars without even knowing any of the elites mentioned above. 

Our flag and our National Anthem are symbols of our country that men/women died for while wearing  The Uniform . You can bet a military veteran would never stoop so low as to dishonor the symbols that represent us. I'm 82, and was Honorably Discharged in 1958, and yet I still have pictures and other memorabilia that I've kept all these years so that I never forget my time in the military, and you can bet there are many more just like me. When I leave the houe for errands I always have on my raggedy Air Force ball cap and my faded and stained Air Force sweatshirt.

Whenever a vet sees a story of a flag desecration or a "kneeling" during the National Anthem, or refusing to place their hand over their heart to say the Pledge you can bet the very first words they utter are, "Bet that jerk never wore The Uniform. 

And that's Politics with Pete for today...God bless our country...and our troops.
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