SOLDIERS SPEAK OUT ON KAEPERNICK: His protest 'makes him more American than anyone'

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Colin Kaepernick's decision to sit or kneel in silent protest during the national anthem before NFL games has attracted praise and criticism since he began doing it more than a year ago.

The then-49ers quarterback said he was "not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color."

While some called it a "slap in the face" to the military, many veterans do not see it that way.

"He is exercising his constitutional right, and I'm glad that he's doing it," Benjamin Starks, a veteran of both the US Navy and the US Army Reserve, told Business Insider in September 2016.

Kaepernick has yet to join an NFL team this season, which some attribute to an active decision by teams to exclude him. But his protest has been debated with renewed vigor in recent days, after President Donald Trump excoriated him and others in the league who have supported him.

"Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out — he's fired!'" Trump said during a rally in Alabama on Friday night.

Veterans have continued to voice their support and opposition to the manner in which Kaepernick protested systemic racism and police brutality.

"I can tell you, speaking for three generations of my family, it is PRECISELY for men like Kaepernick, and his right to peacefully protest injustice, that we were willing to serve," said Michael Sands, a Green Beret who is the son of a World War II veteran and father of an Army officer who served in Afghanistan. "Want to respect the American flag? Then respect the ideals for which it stands. Bullying language and calling peaceful protesters 'sons of bitches' who should be fired aren't among them."

Army veteran Chad Longell, writing in the right-leaning Independent Journal Review, downplayed Trump's comments and called on Kaepernick and others to embrace the flag and anthem. "Focusing on the values those symbols represent will empower us to find the path forward toward the type of future we all desire," Longell said.

In September 2016, Business Insider asked veterans for their thoughts on Kaepernick. Many were happy to share their views, and one thing became very clear: The opinions of veterans can greatly vary. Below, you can see what they had to say, lightly edited for clarity.

"Colin sat down and exercised his right to protest, which is something that I feel like we all swore an oath to defend," said Tom Baker, a Navy veteran who served in the Iraq War.

Tom Baker

"I also agree with the statements he made. We don't respect the rights of black and brown people."

"The people that are the most angry are the same people screaming at Obama for his use of executive actions, and people that probably think that the right to bear arms is the only thing in the Bill of Rights."

"I am mostly just tired of pundits and nonveterans using us as a way to throw shade on someone for their actions."

"The whole narrative of, 'You're disrespecting veterans and those who sacrificed' is bulls---."

"I really just want these people to stop telling us what we think, to stop putting words in our mouths, and to really listen to us. We've been at war for 15 years."

"I don't think I have any veteran friends that still think that Iraq was a good idea. Where is all the outrage about the Iraq War? Where is our Chilcot [the UK investigation into the war]?"

"If these people truly gave a s--- about us veterans they would've kicked down the doors on the Capitol and demanded a real inquiry into the deaths at the [Department of Veterans Affairs] and the insane number of veterans committing suicide."

"For me it is offensive at the least and painful at the most to see someone disrespect the flag or anthem, as they have become linked to the sacrifices that I have seen made in their name," said Nick Stefanovic, a Marine Corps infantry veteran who deployed twice to Afghanistan.

Nick Stenovic

"I am tired of this 'bringing awareness' crap. I think it does nothing but bring attention to the person trying to do it. It is a way is saying, 'Hey look at me, I'm doing something good,' without actually having to do something."

"Awareness has been brought, and there is nobody who is unaware that our society is not equal."

"There are those who are able to see that we have things like systemic racism, police brutality, and unequal pay for women. There are those who live in denial because it makes them feel guilty. And there are those who fight this inequality by being discriminatory themselves — but there are none who are unaware."

"There are ways to act on these issues without offending others. I have always for some reason had a strong reaction to the injustice and oppression brought on innocent Muslims by Islamic theocracy. I acted, and I went to Afghanistan and can say that the regions I was in were better when I left than when I got there. I didn't have to go and burn the Quran. I attacked the problem."

"We need more attacking the problem and less 'bringing awareness.'"

"Now anyone is free to burn the flag, sit for the anthem, burn a Bible, or burn a Quran, but that does not justify their offensiveness. There is a lot of injustice out there and a need for those who will fight it."

"In the end, my opinion is that this football player took attention away from the actual problem and put the spotlight on himself. If you notice, nobody is talking about racial inequality right now. They are all focused on whether his protest was right or wrong."

"Being a vet, and a cop now, that man did nothing to me — or anyone else for that fact — aside from exercise his rights as an American citizen," said Ronnie Brown, a Marine Corps infantry veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ronnie Brown

"There's one issue I see with what the guy did, and that is a lot of cherry-picking. By that, I mean it's silly how people can support one person who voiced their opinion as long as what is being said is something they agree with. But let it be something that the masses don't agree with, and now you're a terrorist. You can't condone one and then turn right around and condemn the other."

"Being a vet, and a cop now, that man did nothing to me — or anyone else for that fact — aside from exercise his rights as an American citizen."

"The entitled crowd these days — which sadly includes a lot of vets and police officers — want this guy to apologize to vet groups, police unions, God, Megatron, and everything that falls in between."

"And why?"

"Are you demanding an apology from a man that did what he is free to do? Is that what they think freedom is? Is that what they think this country was based on?"

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