I spent much of today standing along a roadside at my university so that someone else wouldn't be able to stand along the roadside. I was joined by thousands of other people, many of whom held huge flags and signs supporting a grieving family.
The men and women who volunteer to serve in the military are among the bravest and most courageous people any country can have. They deserve all the honor and gratitude a citizen like myself can possibly give, and even anything citizens can possibly do will fall short of what those in service deserve.
Here in the US we have the right to free speech, and many men and women have died to ensure we retain that right. So when a group of people decided to come down here to show hate and disrespect at a funeral of one of those in service, I joined my comrades in ensuring the only people standing on that street were those who were giving respect and honor to the fallen.
I'm proud to have been a part of such a massive movement, but two things about the whole situation make me sad. First, that there would be people who wish to express their first-amendment rights to dishonor the very people who die to give them their first-amendment rights. And second that, while the supporting crowd along that street was enormous, it was dwarfed by the number of people who would show up to see a mere sports game.
We were successful, sure, but I just wish more people had come to honor his passing than had been at his football games.
