Skip Black thought the bullet that pierced his left bicep and the shrapnel from an AK-47 that struck his forehead were just dirt. He hardly noticed.

Instead, the United States Marine was focused on the sight of the American flag falling in the midst of battle – that pulled him from his focus on combat.

“When I was in Vietnam, I was overrun by an estimated 2,000 [soldiers from the North Vietnamese Army],” Black said. “They surrounded us completely… our American flag went down and there was another Marine that went up… and put that flag back up.”

During the Vietnam War, Black, a three-time Purple Heart recipient, was willing to sacrifice his life for his country. Now, more than 41 years later, he is willing to make another sacrifice – watching professional football.

With a steadfast devotion to the U.S., the flag and the national anthem, Black and other local military veterans are no longer watching NFL teams play this fall, due to recent protests during the anthem.

For Terry Hoyle, a United States Army veteran and quartermaster of the Veterans of Foreign War Post 4793, watching football now means turning on a game just long enough to see who is kneeling, before turning it off again.

“I’ll literally turn on a football game on Thursday, Sunday and Monday to see if anybody is kneeling. Then I’ll turn it off – that’s just how I am,” said Hoyle. “I feel it’s disrespectful to any and all veterans, not just certain groups. It’s disrespectful to them all. [The national anthem is] to honor the fallen.”

With more and more professional athletes using the national anthem as a platform to protest racial injustice, Hoyle said he’s gone from never missing a game to not even wanting to use the tickets he purchased at the beginning of the season.

“I’m a huge Steelers fan, my dad is a huge Steelers fan – I never miss a game,” said Hoyle. “I’ve had tickets to three games this year – this next one I don’t even know if I’ll be going. It’s crazy.”

When NFL players take a knee, David Logan, a U.S. Army veteran and commander for VFW Post 4793, thinks of the stark contrast between the injured and elderly veterans who struggle to rise for each anthem.

“Out here at the Vietnam Traveling Wall, [which came to Greene County last weekend], when they played the national anthem, they had guys on mobile cart,” Logan said.

“You know what those guys did? They turned around and they stood. Here they are – crippled on mobile wheelchairs, [standing].”

While it’s difficult for Jim Bedilion, a United States Marine veteran, to watch, he understands there are issues in the U.S. For him, it’s not about the validity of the protests message but rather the message it sends to those who fought in the military.

“I disagree with the taking a knee. I think there are problems in the country; I think, however, attacking the national anthem and the flag is not the way to handle it,” Bedilion said. “There are other forms that they can use and it doesn’t have to be disrespectful.”

Bedilion’s views of the anthem are simple: it’s about patriotism.

“It’s unity – hundreds of thousands of veterans have given their lives for the establishment of the country and the wellbeing of citizens, the flag represents a nation,” Bedilion said. “If you look at the Olympics, every country will honor their flag.”

But, according to Black, when the athletes make their statements by kneeling, they don’t consider the message behind the anthem.

“[The athletes] don’t realize if it wasn’t for the national anthem and the pledge of allegiance they wouldn’t be able to do what they are doing,” Black said. “We don’t need them – they need us.”

Black’s proud to be a veteran and an American and thinks everyone should feel the same. He proved this at an early age, quitting school at 17 to join the military. Then, the day he turned 18, he was ordered to Vietnam. He said he takes pride in doing what his country told him to do.

“What keeps my sanity is I did what my country wanted me to do,” Black said. “I didn’t run to Canada; I didn’t dodge the draft – I think just about any veteran would do it again.”

He remembers being shot five times in Vietnam.

He remembers the flak jacket that saved his life after a grenade detonated on his back.

But more than anything, he remembers seeing the American flag fall and then rise again; his desire to serve his nation still burns.

“This is our country. We’re there for freedom and that is our symbol and the national anthem is our song…” Black said. “I went to Vietnam fighting for that flag and the national anthem and to this day – no matter what is said – I will do it again.”