Benedict letter: NFL protests
Demonstrate all you want, but please, don’t mess with our flag. So many have fought and died to guarantee you that right.
As a small child, I didn’t have a father for almost three years when he was sent to the Pacific during World War II. Two uncles were gone for four years in Europe, the youngest in the D-Day invasion, not seeing his newborn son until he was 4 years old. There were about 14 million others like them.
They were fighting so we wouldn’t have to live under a flag with a swastika or rising sun on it, so please don’t mess with our flag.
My older sister chose to follow in my father’s footsteps and became career Army and served a year in Vietnam; my new husband served two years in Navy during end of Korean War and remained another 25 years in Reserves. My son served 26 years in the Air Force.
I’ve lived two years in occupied Germany and, later, two years in Japan as a new bride while my husband served his tour there at ending of Korean War.
Our country isn’t perfect, but it is good, and believe me I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. I get a lump in my throat whenever I see Old Glory flying in the breeze. So, please, find some other way to demonstrate or protest, just don’t mess with our flag.
God bless America.
Diane R. Benedict, Boise
This story was originally published October 5, 2017 at 11:33 PM with the headline "Benedict letter: NFL protests."