When then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to take a knee during the playing of the National Anthem in August 2016, he said it was because of his views on the country’s treatment of racial minorities.

About a month after that action began stirring up lots of discussion on both sides of the issue, I ran into this young man at Bicentennial Park in Baytown. He told me of his service in the Army National Guard and shared his thoughts on the topic.

“I don’t take offense to that because he was practicing his freedom of speech. As a soldier, one of the things you protect is the right to protest. For someone to tell somebody else a better way to protest is just unnecessary.

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“The first time I saw (Colin) Kaepernick taking a knee, I wasn’t offended by it. I felt like he was practicing his freedom of speech. As a soldier that’s one of the things you protect, someone’s right to protest.

“I think that symbols like the flag mean something different for everyone. To me, it means more to know why I fight. I don’t fight for a flag necessarily. I fight for the people.

“What I keep in mind, what I try to live by, are the values we were taught in basic training: loyalty, duty, respect, honor, integrity and selfless service. I remind myself of those values every day.”

— Dorion Nora

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• Kaepernick was ‘practicing his freedom of speech’

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