During World War II, soldiers of color were segregated.
Having distingushing themselves in war, Japanese-American soldiers came home only to find their relatives returning from relocation centers, having lost everything but their dignity.
Many black soldiers, including the Tuskegee airmen, returned to the segregated south where segregated lunch counters and abrogated voting rights prevailed.
Not having incurred these inequities is why many veterans of that war cannot feel the pain of those who did.
Blame Branch Rickey for signing Jackie Robinson to the majors and breaking the color barrier for the players whose jerseys we proudly wear today.
Racial injustice and disparate treatment in our criminal system is the stand for which players now kneel.
Remember, like Rosa Parks, Muhammed Ali and Martin Luther King before him, it took on one National Football League player to put his knee down to get the attention of us all to a cause for which he has dearly paid.
There is no disrespect for the flag or our veterans simply because, with or without our national anthem, their actions on the field would still prevail.
Historically, players did not take the feild until after the pre-game show which — frankly — was a spectacle unto itself and to which we may return.
Roger B. Huntman,
Sequim