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.’”
Middlemas is a farmer from Willard, Missouri. He tells the Springfield News-Leader he wanted to communicate “that you have to love everybody.”
“We don’t kill people,” he said. “We want to make people live.”
The image has been shared hundreds of thousands of times on Twitter.
- Posted September 26, 2017
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
WWII vet, 97, takes knee in support of anthem protests
headlines Macomb
- Macomb County judge honored
- Mount Clemens woman pleads no contest to charge stemming from threats sent to Mount Clemens mayor
- MDHHS seeks applications for Rural Health Transformation Program Workforce for Wellness Initiative
- Prosecutor warns of fake jail bond scam targeting families
- Governor welcomes new unemployment protections for survivors of domestic violence
headlines National
- Chemerinsky: Supreme Court leaves many Second Amendment issues unresolved
- ACLU and BigLaw firm use ‘Orange is the New Black’ in hashtag effort to promote NY jail reform
- After emergencies mar bar exam, New York State Bar Association aims to add new procedures
- When you get blasted by your own canon
- Ex-lawyer seeks bar reinstatement after US House primary win
- Trump selects newly confirmed federal judge for open seat on 5th Circuit




