By Robert E. Macdonald

Mayor of Lewiston

“The greatest day in my life was when I looked up and saw the flag flying on top of Suribachi.” Thus my uncle, Marine Master Sergeant Robert Macdonald, said to my grandmother upon returning home shortly after the war.

He had experienced the hell called Iwo Jima. When the flag was raised atop Mt. Suribachi, morale among the Marines, Navy and Army personnel spiked. They thought that after five days of savage fighting, the island had been secured. Unfortunately, the battle would rage another 31 days.

A short time after the small first flag had been raised, a much larger flag was sent to the top of Surabachi so it could be more easily seen. This iconic image of the flag raising has been burned into our country’s history, thanks to Associate Press photographer Joe Rosenthal. His picture of the second flag raising went viral and was run in every newspaper throughout the country. It became a symbol of victory, which was still six months away.

A subsequent bond tour to raise funds for the war effort raised $24 billion. Do you think the picture of some wealthy National Football League quarterback throwing a winning touchdown pass or an NFL kicker punting a winning field goal could cause that amount of public emotion throughout the country?

On September 13-14, 1814, emotions ran high throughout the city of Baltimore, Maryland. British warships had infested Baltimore Harbor and were laying siege to Fort McHenry, a well-built, pentagon-shaped fort located on an island in the middle of the harbor. McHenry stood to provide a defense against foreign armies that may attempt to attack Baltimore. The savage bombardment lasted for 25 hours, and those manning the fort held their ground to finally secure a great victory.

At the battle’s conclusion, as was customary, those in the fort replaced the storm flag that had flown during the battle with a larger garrison flag, indicating victory.

Onboard one of the many British troop ships was a Baltimore lawyer, Francis Scott Key. Upon watching the siege of the fort throughout the night and in the morning seeing the garrison flag flying over the fort, he was overcome by emotion. The sight gave him the inspiration to pen our national anthem.

The only thing that inspires our NFL ingrates during the fall and the beginning of winter is the fat paychecks they receive for playing a kid’s game.

During the American Civil War, one of the highest honors bestowed on an enlisted man was carrying the colors (flag) into battle. They were responsible to make sure the flag was visible and to give their lives in order to prevent it from falling into the hands of the enemy. But that was then!

Today it has become fashionable in the National Football League to kneel during the playing of our National Anthem. Their actions, they say, are to bring focus on the killing of black men by the police. But what exactly does that mean?

Does this mean they believe that the police spend their duty time hunting and killing black men? Are they endorsing rioting, looting and the burning of businesses? Unfortunately, these actions by incensed mobs are often aimed at black-owned businesses and property.

Rioting only destroys local businesses that provide goods and services and makes the local population travel long distances to get basic needs. It also ends up by hurting working people who now find themselves out of a job because their place of employment has been destroyed.

Finally, the phrase “hands up, don’t shoot” is used to create an anti-police atmosphere. But there is another phrase in impoverished neighborhoods, “Don’t snitch.” This is used by neighborhood gangs and thugs as a warning. It’s a warning to the good working people of the neighborhood to look away when innocent men, women and children, who are often caught in the crossfire of dueling gangs, are killed or wounded.

Where is the outrage here? Who speaks for them?