“Now please stand for the national anthem.” That phrase is said before every sporting event, yet there are people who, instead of standing, kneel. Dictionary.com defined honor as high respect; great esteem, and respect as a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities or achievements. The national anthem is the most basic way to honor and respect those who fought, risked and lost their lives serving for our country and that is why you should never kneel while it is playing. This is not a matter of politics; it is a matter of honor and respect. Kneeling during the national anthem is meant to be a peaceful protest against police brutality but nothing about it is respectful. My grandfather, a Vietnam war veteran, still suffers from PTSD tothisday.Soldierswhofoughtin the Vietnam war were not given a warm welcome home. People would spit on them and they were often referred to as “baby killers’” because the Vietnamese put babies in their first line of defense in order to prevent the American soldiers from shooting. Those men did not deserve the disrespect they were shown because of something they could not control. People can argue that they have a right to protest for what they believe in and I agree: if there is something that you have a problem with, stand up for yourself. With that being said, standing up for yourself should not come with disrespecting others, especially those who lost so much to get you your basic rights such as your right to protest. Another argument that could be made may be, “I am not okay with police brutality, you cannot and will not expect me to stand up for something I am strongly against”. The police and the military are two completely different things. The events to strike up police brutality should not be ignored and action does need to be taken but the military did not partake in any of these despicable activities. The men and women who have fought and who are still fighting deserve your honor and respect. David Espinoza, Nicole Gee, Taylor Hoover, Ryan Knauss, Rylee McCollum, Hunter Lopez, Dylan Merola, Kareem Nikoui, Johanna Pichardo, Humberto Sanchez, Daegan William-Tyeler and Jared Schmitz deserve your respect.