The NFL and taking a knee..Meet John W. Houston

[OUSOONER67]

The NFL players taking a knee during the National Anthem in my opinion is disrespectful to the men and women that have died serving our Country. I just think they should find another way to protest their cause.

A couple of years ago I was at an Antique Show here in Arkansas and came across a Purple Heart Medal in a box of junk for 10.00. I thought it was probably fake but upon looking on the back I saw a name John W. Houston. The dealer told me he got it at a garage sale and the person selling it no longer wanted it. I thought this was a shame that this mans memory and sacrifice to his Country was in a box of junk so I purchased it. I wanted to keep this mans memory alive so I looked up his name and found out what branch of service he was in and what other medals and patches he would have had. I went to an Army Surplus Store to purchase the rest of the things he would have had on his uniform and put them in a case to display in honor of his service and sacrifice.

John was deployed to Vietnam on December 24 1965 and was killed in action almost 2 months later on Feburary 13th 1966 three days after his birthday. John was 23 yrs old when he died. He never had a chance to get married, have children or even go to college. He never saw his family or home again. He gave the ultimate sacrifice for his Country so we could have the freedoms that we do, even the right not to stand for the National Anthem but to me there should be another way these players can protest. Don't dishonor what John and thousands of other Americans have done for us. Brave men and Women like John are why I stand for the Flag and why I think everyone should.

John is buried in Little Rock National Cemetery. Thank you for your service John.

 

[WhyNotaSooner]

The protesters know what they are doing. They knew that protesting during the anthem would gain them the most attention. Because of this, they disrespected all of the John Wesley Houstons of our country. They didn't care and still don't. I hope they all continue to fail miserably.

 

[JConXtsy]

67 - You're one good dude.

 

[Oklabama]

This crap is very bad, but watching our flag being burned is much, much worse, IMO. Yet flag burning has gone on for decades and still happens. And there is nothing that can be done about either. Doesn't seem right to me.

 

[Senior Sooner]

What a Thoughtful Thing to do, 67...I appreciate your sharing that bit of History with us!

I tell my sons to 'Never pass up a chance to Take the High Road...That you're never sorry, when you do the Right Thing'...Your Stepping Up for John W. is an excellent example of that, 67...Thank You!

 

[OUSOONER67]

I would like to add that its not about the color of the players skin as to why I dislike what they are doing and when they are choosing to protest. John W. Houston was African American but to me he is just simply an American who gave all he had for his Country, something most of these spoiled NFL players will probably never have to do nor would do. In the grand scheme of things football does not really matter much. The irony of it all is people that support what they are doing and saying its their right to do so and I agree with that but people also have the right to disagree with what they are doing and how they are doing it but the supporters don't see it that way.

 

[PtLavacaSooner]

Freedom. They are free to kneel... Or are they?

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-m.../25/short-history-national-anthem-and-sports/

 

[OUSOONER67]

And yes I also support Law Enforcement. Preserving history is my passion. Anyone who puts their life on the line everyday has earned my respect and my thanks.

 

[bullmarket]

The NFL players taking a knee during the National Anthem in my opinion is disrespectful to the men and women that have died serving our Country. I just think they should find another way to protest their cause.

A couple of years ago I was at an Antique Show here in Arkansas and came across a Purple Heart Medal in a box of junk for 10.00. I thought it was probably fake but upon looking on the back I saw a name John W. Houston. The dealer told me he got it at a garage sale and the person selling it no longer wanted it. I thought this was a shame that this mans memory and sacrifice to his Country was in a box of junk so I purchased it. I wanted to keep this mans memory alive so I looked up his name and found out what branch of service he was in and what other medals and patches he would have had. I went to an Army Surplus Store to purchase the rest of the things he would have had on his uniform and put them in a case to display in honor of his service and sacrifice.

John was deployed to Vietnam on December 24 1965 and was killed in action almost 2 months later on Feburary 13th 1966 three days after his birthday. John was 23 yrs old when he died. He never had a chance to get married, have children or even go to college. He never saw his family or home again. He gave the ultimate sacrifice for his Country so we could have the freedoms that we do, even the right not to stand for the National Anthem but to me there should be another way these players can protest. Don't dishonor what John and thousands of other Americans have done for us. Brave men and Women like John are why I stand for the Flag and why I think everyone should.

John is buried in Little Rock National Cemetery. Thank you for your service John.

That was a great moving story OUSOONERS67.

 

[runningback43]

May Dad has his uncle's Purple Heart. His uncle was killed in World War II. Breaks my heart to know that nobody in John Houston's family kept his Purple Heart. You're a great person to keep John Houston's memory alive.

 

[JConXtsy]

You're a great person to keep John Houston's memory alive.

The Vietnam War/Conflict (whatever you want to call it) seems to be very divisive to this very day, 50 years later. Still a lot of pain and a lot of people that want to forget.

A couple of years ago, I was chatting with my dad about his involvement, and he was telling me about people he served with that he still thought about to this day. One of those is a guy I was named after. In camp, my father was already married. When my father had night post, this guy would volunteer to take my father's spot, so he could go home and be with my mom. Once deployed, my father learned of his killing mere months after assignment. I was named after this guy. Being more tech savvy than my father, I offered to find more info on this guy and was able to track down his sister in South Texas. I sent her an email to which she replied, and then my father emailed her to offer his condolences and merely state his high opinion of the guy. She responded with a brief and disparaging note essentially saying her brother was a loser, and she was done with the conversation. The hurt came out of left field and was quite confusing.

 

[Senior Sooner]

More on The Vietnam War...I have enjoyed Ken Burn's work, in the past...Especially his Books and Articles covering The Dust Bowl. When I saw that OETA was running the VN Series, I alerted a good friend of mine who survived that conflict. I was very touched by his reply. If you are watching it, his reply provides some additional facts, and made it much more interesting...

From DJ...My group is in it. Starting tonight I think. If you have watched any of it you've seen Carl MaLantes, he was my CO. Has written several books. I'll send you copy of his email I received this week.

DJ...

Could you please copy this email to all the guys in the company. I got an advanced look at an episode of the Ken Burn's documentary on the Vietnam War that shows our assault on Hill 484. I have to say we look grungy and I’m very proud of all of you. The way the script is written, however, we look way more bad-ass than is possible. The script should have said we were inadvertently ordered to attack a regiment and that elements of that NVA regiment were on Hill 484. It sounds like we attacked an entire NVA regiment on Hill 484. Anybody with even a little military knowledge would know it is impossible to fit an entire regiment on a hill that size. I emailed the Ken Burns people and they were sorry the script is misleading, but they can do nothing about it now except say it is a mistake, which they will if anyone points this out to them. I had no idea this was in the documentary. They’d spent hours interviewing me and, of course, some of that is in the film. They wrote the script by condensing those several hours of interviews. The script is not wrong, but also not quite right. They used part of my interview when I talked about our second assault on Hill 484. The script mentions that I got a Navy Cross that day. It’s a story I think almost all of you know and it’s the story that is in the episode. I took off up the hill and within seconds everyone was right there with me. Everyone involved in that assault and all the other actions we took during that week in March of 1969 were just as brave and deserve medals. I try to think of that Navy Cross not as mine, but ours. It’s like being the halfback on a football team. When the halfback scores the touchdown, his name goes in the papers. Any good halfback knows there would be no touchdown without ten other guys blocking for him. Newspapers don’t write up touchdowns this way, nor does the military hand out medals this way. I watched Tim Rabbitt get his Bronze Star for exposing himself to fire to call in counter-battery fire. I think it was on LZ Loon, but I’m not sure. In any case I asked him how he felt about it and he said, “A lot of guys have done a lot less and gotten a lot more, and a lot of guys have done a lot more and gotten a lot less.” This kind of sums it up, in inimitable Rabbitt fashion. There it is. If I can take this time to get totally maudlin and try to keep the snot from running into the keyboard, I want to tell you all how very proud I am to have served with you. Semper Fidelis

 

[OUSOONER67]

Thanks everyone. Jcon I also believe thats kind of what happened to this purple heart. The antique dealer told me the lady said she no longer wanted it. Perhaps she had it handed down to her and never knew him or perhaps it was too painful a reminder I am not sure. But I knew he deserverd more than it being in a box of junk.
Perhaps its like you said, the Vietnam Conflict is still very divisive to this day. I have heard stories about families being very mad at our Government when a loved one is killed in a Conflict they do not support.

Senior Sooner I started recording the Vietnam series last night. A friend of mine that was a Marine in Vietnam told me the other day he was watching it and I should check it out.

The Dad of one of my good friends was a Green Beret in Vietnam. He retired as a Captain, he had PTSD really bad. In high school they live down the street about 5 or 6 houses down from ours. I remember the cops being called to his house many times because his Dad would freak out. I remember he told me once his Dad freaked and started choking him and saying ""I am going to kill you, you gook." I had met his Dad many times and he was always really nice but every now and then he would just freak out. That was back in 84 and really my first experience in seeing anything like that happen to a Vet. I also remember sleeping over at his house once, I woke up in the middle of the night and his Dad was standing at the end of my bed just staring at me, scared the crap out of me, he never said a word just turned and left the room after I woke up and saw him. I never stayed over again after that.
He was very proud of his service, he had all his medals displayed and a lot of military items in his office and lots of big blown up photos on the wall of war scenes in Vietnam.

 

[JConXtsy]

Oh boy, and now this...

600 Twitter accounts with Russian ties found to have intentionally stoked anthem protests on both sides. Psychological warfare.

https://www.cnet.com/news/russian-linked-twitter-accounts-stoked-nfl-anthem-debate/

 

[CTOkie]

Ken Burns' "Vietnam" showed Jane Fonda advocating death to American POW's as war criminals.

 

[iasooner1]

Hanoi Jane should rot for that little stunt. Excuse me CT but I won't 'like' that post

 

[OUSOONER67]

Hanoi Jane should rot for that little stunt. Excuse me CT but I won't 'like' that post

They should put Hillary and Jane in a Cage Match to the death, I would pay good money to watch that. Winner gets deported.

 

[CTOkie]

Hanoi Jane should rot for that little stunt. Excuse me CT but I won't 'like' that post

How can Jane Fonda ever be forgiven ?

 

[BillyRay]

 

[WhyNotaSooner]

The Vietnam War/Conflict (whatever you want to call it) seems to be very divisive to this very day, 50 years later. Still a lot of pain and a lot of people that want to forget.

A couple of years ago, I was chatting with my dad about his involvement, and he was telling me about people he served with that he still thought about to this day. One of those is a guy I was named after. In camp, my father was already married. When my father had night post, this guy would volunteer to take my father's spot, so he could go home and be with my mom. Once deployed, my father learned of his killing mere months after assignment. I was named after this guy. Being more tech savvy than my father, I offered to find more info on this guy and was able to track down his sister in South Texas. I sent her an email to which she replied, and then my father emailed her to offer his condolences and merely state his high opinion of the guy. She responded with a brief and disparaging note essentially saying her brother was a loser, and she was done with the conversation. The hurt came out of left field and was quite confusing.

Such a great story & tribute to your Dad JC. You should be proud of him and I'm sure you are. Your story brought to mind something my son did while in Iraq in 2005. Some might know this, but many don't. During the Iraq war the National Guards were sent over as a complete unit. They prepped their own equipment to take over before they went, they trained together before they went, and they were transferred all together at the same time. My son went w/ Iowa's 224th. Approx. 250 guys. This large group all came from the same geographical area. Brandon was one of the very few that was from 'out of the area' as he was attending U of IOWA. He selected this area to enlist due to the explosives for combat engineering. Since they were the men in the very small community, a large % of the men in the area left all at once. They were the teachers, the Elder/Deacons of the church, the Little Baseball Coaches, the Hardware guy etc. My son was one of only 4 guys that was not married and/or was not a father in his Company. The Marines tour was 5 months, Regular Army 9 months, and National Guard was a 13 month tour. Brandon was deployed on New Year's Eve. He landed in Kuwait New Year's Day 2005. He like your Dad continued to volunteer his 2 weeks leave to those that had family and special occasions. Graduations, Birthdays, Holidays etc. He was supposed to come home in May, but he allowed 18 weeks to pass & before everyone in his Company got to go home for their leave. He finally came home for his two week leave after 9 months. I'm so very proud of that young man. I swell w/ pride for the type of soldier he was and the man he has become. His 1st Lt. and a few others in his platoon were killed during his tour. There hasn't been a Memorial Day since that he doesn't mention them by name on a FB post. I'm pretty sure we all know someone close to us that has served and as such we just want to honor their service. Sorry for such a long post.

 

[SoonerinLA]

Wow this is such an incredible thread with such great stories. I really feel sad about how John Houston's medal was neglected but I am proud of 67 and his efforts to honor Mr. Houston's memory. I hope this thread can somehow be pinned and remain at the top of this board for all to see.

JCon was the sister upset with her brother because she was against the war and he served in Viet Nam? Do you think that was her primary beef with he brother?

And now on to the kneeling protest. The protest is insulting to more than veterans. Many of us who did not serve are also insulted. We also built this country with hard work, taxes, and patriotism. This is insulting to everybody. I happen to live a few blocks from the NFL Network headquarters. I go to a bar they go to after work. They are very concerned about the effect of these actions on the network and even their jobs. They want this to stop, too.

Did Jane Fonda actually advocate death for American POWs? I didn't recall that.

 

[roygbell]

The NFL players taking a knee during the National Anthem in my opinion is disrespectful to the men and women that have died serving our Country. I just think they should find another way to protest their cause.

A couple of years ago I was at an Antique Show here in Arkansas and came across a Purple Heart Medal in a box of junk for 10.00. I thought it was probably fake but upon looking on the back I saw a name John W. Houston. The dealer told me he got it at a garage sale and the person selling it no longer wanted it. I thought this was a shame that this mans memory and sacrifice to his Country was in a box of junk so I purchased it. I wanted to keep this mans memory alive so I looked up his name and found out what branch of service he was in and what other medals and patches he would have had. I went to an Army Surplus Store to purchase the rest of the things he would have had on his uniform and put them in a case to display in honor of his service and sacrifice.

John was deployed to Vietnam on December 24 1965 and was killed in action almost 2 months later on Feburary 13th 1966 three days after his birthday. John was 23 yrs old when he died. He never had a chance to get married, have children or even go to college. He never saw his family or home again. He gave the ultimate sacrifice for his Country so we could have the freedoms that we do, even the right not to stand for the National Anthem but to me there should be another way these players can protest. Don't dishonor what John and thousands of other Americans have done for us. Brave men and Women like John are why I stand for the Flag and why I think everyone should.

John is buried in Little Rock National Cemetery. Thank you for your service John.

OUSOONER67 this is the best post I have ever read/witnessed on a sports message board. There is no way I could come up with any better words to describe my feelings about these players and people who participate in this activity.

I believe that what the people who do this and their supporters need is some real hardship. Most people in this country over the age of 40 have never experienced any real hardship. My mother grew up in a dugout in the Southern Plains. My parents as young adults went through the depression of the 30s and the whole of the dust bowl. They lived through WWII along with two thirds of their siblings and first cousins fought in that war.

In these times they lived through real hardships. They didn't complain. They didn't whine and bitch because they were poor. No, they knuckled down and fought through these tough times.

Now we have born generations of babies who cry and bawl about every little difficulty they come across. They pout and blame everyone else when they don't get their way.

These NFL players are just spoiled brats. They have played a game for all of their lives. That is all they know. They have had everything given to them. Sure they work, but working isn't a hardship.

I will never ever watch another professional sports game. I'm done with them. And, when this nonsense permeates the college games I will give my season tickets back to OU.

 

[OUSOONER67]

Thanks Roygbell! Great post!
I agree with everything you said. I have been a Miami Dolphin fan since I was in the first grade and I am 50 now, I have been a loyal fan ever since but not anymore, I am done with the NFL. Those players say its not about the flag so why kneel during the National Anthem if its not about the flag. Kapernick started all this and he did say it was about the flag. They may be protesting a good cause but find another way to do it. And where were the protests during the offseason?
I just hope this does not trickle down to College Football, its the only sport I have left.

 

[iasooner1]

Plus OU women's Softball and male and female gymnastics; oh and Men's golf !

 

[OUSOONER67]

Last year I remember seeing in the paper here in Arkansas that 2 female Razorback Basketball players knelt during the National Anthem at one of their games. There was quite an uproar about it and I cannot remember if the School or Coach said it will not be tolerated but I remember seeing in the paper a few weeks later and it said both girls were transferring to another University.