In response to several tweets on the issue over the weekend from President Donald Trump, a lot of people--famous and not--took to Twitter voicing their opinion on whether professional athletes are right in kneeling during the national anthem as a form of protest.
One of the responses from someone not-so-famous is getting a lot of attention. Twitter user Brennan Gilmore (@brennanmgilmore) posted a tweet Sunday morning, Sept. 24 with a photo of his grandfather, "a 97 year-old WWII vet & Missouri farmer who wanted to join w/those who #TakeaKnee: 'those kids have every right to protest.'"
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
As of Monday afternoon, the post had more than 139,000 retweets.
In a followup tweet, Gilmore said his grandfather "has been an ally to the civil rights movement for many years."
The Springfield News-Leader identified Gilmore's grandfather as John Middlemas of Willard, Mo. In an interview, Middlemas said his feelings stem from serving alongside black members of the military while deployed on a submarine.
"I'm trying to say that you have to love everybody," he told the News-Leader. "We don't kill people. We want to make people live."
Middlemas also had some choice words for President Donald Trump, calling him "garbage-mouthed."
