BRIDGEVILLE, Pa. — When Montana Elder heard the Pledge of Allegiance broadcast over the high school intercom during homeroom, she didn’t place her hand across her heart and recite it.
“I have never even stood for it, period,” said Elder, 18, a senior at Mt. Lebanon High School.
“It is not that I was protesting it — it is maybe even worse than that — it’s just that I was being lazy,” she said. She and her classmates check their cellphones or talk during the pledge.
But Elder has changed her mind. She attended a discussion organized by a local congressman Wednesday between students and military veterans, who together watched the new World War II movie “Hacksaw Ridge” in a private viewing.
“Tomorrow I will stand for the pledge in school. And the tomorrow after that, and every day. And every time I am somewhere where I am called to recite it, I will do the same thing,” she said.
Asked whether it displays courage to be the only one in a classroom who stands for the pledge, she added, “True bravery is what I saw displayed by Desmond Doss. He faced so much physical and mental adversity yet continued to stick to his core principles without flinching. The least I can do is stand for 40 seconds to honor our flag and those who fought to defend it.
“That is not bravery or courage, that is just the right thing to do.”
More than 220 people packed a suburban Pittsburgh movie theater for the showing of the movie directed by Mel Gibson. They volunteered to take part in the dialogue at the request of U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, a low-key Republican House member who is a licensed physiologist.
Murphy sent the invite to high schools and veterans organizations with the aim of connecting the 1 percent who serve with those who benefit from their service. He said he was motivated by the actions of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who began kneeling during the national anthem to protest injustice and discrimination.
“Since then, other athletes including high school students have taken up the practice,” said Murphy. “I thought if perhaps we connected young people with those who have served or are currently serving, and had them view a movie that vividly tells the story of someone who bravely fought both for his country and for his ability to freely express himself, it might start changing minds.”
“Hacksaw Ridge” tells the true story of Desmond Thomas Doss, an Army corporal and combat medic during World War II who was the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor. The riveting film takes viewers from his youth in Lynchburg, Va., through his horrific struggles at boot camp and his bravery in Okinawa, Japan, during the war’s bloodiest battle in the Pacific Theater.
“I respect everyone’s right to take a knee during the playing of the national anthem, but just because you have the right to do that does not mean you should,” said Whitney Washington, 47, one of only a few African-Americans who attended the showing and discussion.
Washington said Kaepernick’s concerns are “very admirable,” but he’s unhappy with how he chose to display them.
“There are plenty of black and white injustices that happen out in the country every day, and there are plenty of ways to get involved with changing them,” Washington said. “I just don’t think disrespecting the flag is one of them.”
Washington doesn’t like the elevation of sports figures and Hollywood actors as heroes for young people to admire and emulate.
“I’d prefer that would go to our members of the military, or the people who volunteer in communities and officers,” he said. “But police officers need much better training before they work in predominantly black neighborhoods.” Washington believes more blacks need to heed the call to serve as police officers.
A sleepy community 8 miles south of Pittsburgh’s city limits, Bridgeville decorates the streetlights of its main thoroughfare with banners honoring local veterans from WWII forward.
On this evening, a car cruise with beautifully restored automobiles filled the parking lot near the theater. Music from the 1950s boomed from radios, as attendees sat in folding chairs in front of vintage Thunderbirds, Mustangs, Studebakers and even a classic Ford Model T.
Here and in most western Pennsylvania towns, football is king and the “Friday night lights” tradition draws people to high school teams’ games, even if they do not have a kid on the field. It is the foundation of town pride and a way to unify a community.
Fifteen miles west, at Cornell School District in Coraopolis, school administrators rescheduled the high school’s homecoming game and banned all students from attending the event after 12 of the 15 football cheerleaders decided to take a knee during the national anthem in front of a color guard composed of veterans.
School Superintendent Aaron Thomas said in a statement that the event “challenged us in ways we didn’t think were possible prior to this.” He said district officials met with members of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 402, “where a great discussion occurred.”
John Weitzel, a member of the VFW in Bridgeville, is skeptical that discussion will get to the root of the matter.
“That flag never did anything wrong to those young women,” he said. “Part of the problem is that young people don’t know anyone who served. There is no one in their family, or perhaps in their school, that are called to serve.”
Weitzel, 72, a retired Marine, served two of his six years in the armed forces in Vietnam, retiring as a captain. He attended the movie showing with 12 other VFW members.
Greg Wagner, 22, of Oakmont in Pittsburgh’s eastern suburbs, came with three other young Marines, two of whom played football in high school. None could imagine kneeling in protest while the anthem played.
“But is that fair of me to say because I am white? I don’t know,” said Wagner. “I don’t have the same experiences as a white man that a black man has.”
As a Marine, he’s also conflicted: “I do believe in the very freedom that allows people to do that, and I will fight and die for their ability to exercise that freedom. But certainly, I would wish they would honor our commitment to the flag and find another way to do that.”
Washington looked pensive in his long, black overcoat and dark-rimmed glasses as he left the theater and walked to his car.
“The best thing I learned tonight was that movements start with one conversation, with one idea,” he said. “If each one of us takes something that we learned from tonight and passes it on in conversations with our family and friends, that’s a good thing.
“We may not have the celebrity platform that an NFL football player has, but that’s OK. One person at time,” he said.
