The Wall

Years ago I visited the Viet Nam War Memorial Wall in Washington D.C.  As a USAF veteran I wanted to pay tribute to our fallen heroes, especially a close friend that lost his life at the hands of the Viet Cong. We grew up together, played on  city championship baseball teams in 1952. My friend got a congressional appointment to West Point. The last time I saw him was the night before he left for West Point celebrating his appointment. He was promoted to Captain and then shipped over to Viet Nam. 

Two years later I joined the USAF, and spent most of my tour of duty in Europe. Never saw my friend again. A few days ago my wife and I visited the Viet Nam "moving" war memorial in Madison, Ohio. I wanted to pay tribute to the men/women who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. I also wanted to visit the nameplate of my childhood friend who was killed in Viet Nam when a Viet Cong threw a grenade in his jeep. 

We met so many people Friday at the wall in Madison. The comradre was unbelievable. Military vets from WWII, Korean War,Viet Nam War, and Vets from the current war in the mid-east were there. Most of them had hats, shirts, medals, and ribbons signifying their service in the military. So many warm embraces accompanied with tears made it all the more memorable.

I was so impressed when a Viet Nam veteran, adorned with medals and ribbons aapproached me and said, "thank you for your service". I had an old USAF baseball cap on. I told him I was in '54-'58 and felt a little guilty because I never saw any combat. He then said to me, "doesn't matter cause when you enlisted you signed a check saying you're available for war or any other job the military gives you". This Viet Nam vet made my day.

This morning I read in the news that over 200 NFL players would not stand to show respect for our flag and National Anthem. I haven't watched any NFL games since Kaepernick refused to stand last year before a game during our Anthem. I must admit, it's a little easier given I live in the shadow of the Cleveland Browns stadium where they house a 1-18 team. Before I continue on with this blog please note, OBJECTIVELY that the NBA and NFL teams are comprised of over 80% African-Americans, and nearly 99.9% of the kneelers were Black.

Can you imagine if only White athletes in the NFL took the knee, or if only White NBAchamps refused to visit the White House. My God, BLM, Antifa, Sharpton, Jackson, CNN, and MSNBC would be all over this, and the words "racial inequality" would never be uttered. These Black athletes in the NBA and NFL are multi millionaires. What are they complaining about?  All you're seeing and reading about is the disdain of the media for our President Trump.

I'd like to know how many of these "kneelers" and disrespectors of our American flag and our National Anthem were ever privileged enough to wear the military uniform. My guess is just about zero, nada, none. You can bet the 63 million Americans that voted for President Trump would never take a knee during the Anthem, and the flag is honored.  While on active duty I always felt an overwheling sense of pride, honor, and patriotism when the Anthem was played, and I stood while in salute.

I am 82, and I still feel that way when I hear the Anthem. With Parkinsons' it's a little difficult to stand, but nothing and no one could ever stop me from standing. After visiting the moving wall this past Friday my loyalty to my country and flag became so much stronger. I just wish the 200+ NFL/NBA kneelers would visit the wall. 

Over 90% of the NFL kneelers and NBA whiners are African-Americans, so naturally they are all screaming "Trump is a racist".  They claim they're kneeling  for"social justice"., and "cops killing Blacks" A little research would inform them that actually Blacks kill Blacks at an alarmingly growing rate; much much more than Whites killing Blacks. Even the percentage of Blacks killing Whites are a higher percentage.  These 200+ kneelers should visit Chicago, where Black on Black crime is rising daily, not kneeling out of their protest against our President. 

Visiting "The Wall" will give any patriotic American a sense of pride and honor remembering these true men/women heroes that made the ultimate sacrifice to proect our freedoms that enable the 200+ "kneelers" to show disrespect to our flag and Anthem. 

One just hopes and prays that these kneelers will use their athletic platform to praise and honor our country rather than show disrespect and disdain.

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