You take a knee and even though it’s your right, I don’t agree with the action but I am racist.
You riot and loot and because I am against it, I am racist.
I say all lives matter and I am a racist.
You destroy monuments that have no meaning to you but to me they are sacred and you still think I am racist.
Well, think again about you and your movements. You don’t know anything about me or my fellow veterans.
All lives matter and our freedom is sacred.
You talk about sacrifice but have no clue what real sacrifice is. Members of the military that have been called on to defend a foreign land, is that racist? Called upon to defend other religions besides their own, is that racist? Called upon to defend people of another colour, is that racist? Called upon to defend freedom, is that racist?
Yet we are the ones that give you freedom, give you safety and protect those that need protecting, no matter what nationality, religion, colour or race.
What do we get in return? Our monuments to those that gave the ultimate sacrifice are vandalized or destroyed. The places we gather to try and make sense of all this madness are destroyed because of what? A bad man killed another man.
Oh wait, that’s not right. A bad cop killed a man. Oh yes, I am sorry. Let’s justify this; a bad white cop killed a black man. There, that justifies vandalizing and destroying these monuments. That doesn’t fly with me but, hey, I am a racist, remember.
Veterans get to watch some person that makes millions of dollars take a knee for some injustice he never experienced. We get told it’s not disrespectful to us; it’s towards the meaning of some political movement that they made up and their meaning and feelings are not taken seriously.
We get to watch some idiot burn or disgrace the flag for some political protest and, if we say we don’t agree with the flag that has given us a sense of brotherhood and has been draped over the coffins of our dead being disgraced, we are told it’s not against us but some other political made-up meaning.
You all need to rethink what you are doing because, if you push hard enough, veterans may have a movement, and trust me, it will get real.
Don’t think we are not watching and don’t think we will sit on the sidelines forever.
We all made a decision, swore an oath and wrote a blank cheque for our country and trust me, we know the meaning and it is not some political agenda that is made to divide.
We know what unity is. We know what sacrifice is and it has nothing to do with nationality, religion, colour or race; it has to do with brotherhood.
Stop desecrating our memorials honouring those that fought for all the freedoms and rights that you have today.
- Michael Barclay,
Innisfail resident and RCAF veteran
