97-year-old WWII takes a knee in support of anthem protests
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – On a day when NFL teams grabbed the nation’s attention by coordinating demonstrations during the national anthem, a 97-year-old World War II veteran went viral with a solitary show of support for the protests.
Brennan Gilmore posted a Twitter picture Sunday morning of his grandfather, John Middlemas, kneeling while wearing a veteran’s cap.
Gilmore wrote: “My grandpa is a 97 year-old WWII vet & Missouri farmer who wanted to join w/ those who #TakeaKnee: ‘those kids have every right to protest.’”
Middlemas is a farmer from Willard, Missouri.
He tells the Springfield News-Leader he wanted to communicate “that you have to love everybody.”
He adds: “We don’t kill people. We want to make people live.” The image has been shared hundreds of thousands of times on Twitter.