Many NFL players are facing backlash for kneeling during the national anthem, but no one expected a 97-year-old World War II veteran to join them.
Brennan Gilmore posted a picture on Twitter of his grandfather, 97-year-old WWII veteran John Middlemas, taking a knee.
"My grandpa is a 97 year-old WWII vet & Missouri farmer who wanted to join (with) those who #Takeaknee: 'those kids have every right to protest,'" Gilmore wrote on the post.
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." pic.twitter.com/LurCj7SLUB
— Brennan Gilmore (@brennanmgilmore) September 24, 2017
Colin Kaepernick started the trend in 2016 to protest what he believes are racial injustices in American society.
Middlemas says he kneels to be like Jesus.
"I wanted to communicate what I always told to my grand-kids and everybody else," Middlemas told News-Leader. "When they'd go to bed at night, we'd tell the kids we wanted to be like Jesus."
"I'm trying to say that you have to love everybody," he said. "We don't kill people. We want to make people live."
Middlemas says he hopes "the whole world" will hear his message.
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