Honor and Respect

Nico Salinas
Feb 25, 2019
3 min read

What does it mean to honor our American flag?

Well by definition, to honor is something regarded as a rare opportunity and bringing pride and pleasure; a PRIVILEGE. To honor our flag is a privilege. The colors Red, White, and Blue are well deserved of that respect. As we all know nothing comes free in this world. There is always a price to pay one way or another. The price our country pays does not come easy of course. It is fought for with blood, sweat, and tears in all reality. As a child it wasn't clear to me the reason why. What I could comprehend is what the true feeling to honor something was. The older i became the more knowledge i gained and started to understand quite a bit more. I became more aware and retained a lot more pride for this beautiful country. Growing up, the children of my generation were taught to stand up for the flag. We were raised to put our hands on our hearts, and HONOR what our brave men and women have fallen for. Being a child there was always the question "why?" Our questions were answered and put before us so we knew why we stood in silence and facing our American flag while it soared in glory up high. Of course with honor along side comes respect. Now days respect is something you rarely come by with the new generation sadly. Its becoming a dying state of mind. As my father served I learned to understand that the truth was every time he was to board a plane with his brothers and sisters, there was always a chance he may not come back. I respected the fact every time our soldiers put on their BDU's they were going to fight for us and without any hesitation at that. At this point you start to pray and become a firm believer in God. Asking God to bring home our soldiers as we sent prayers every chance received to give them strength and courage. We were reminded to respect because we got to sit back in luscious freedom while there were men and women fighting for their lives so that we could live ours at ease. Respect goes a long way in life and I personally have got to witness that first hand...

I was able to interview a great friend of mine. This Gentlemen is one of the most well rounded individuals i have ever had the pleasure of knowing and a true honor to be considered his friend. I wanted a little insight on his thoughts so I proceeded to capture a small interview.

James Greenlaw was a Sergeant in the United States Army. He's humble, respectable, and a scholar. I asked SGT. James Greenlaw what it meant to honor and respect O'l Glory and this is what he said...

"Honoring the flag to me means having the respect to stand for the colors I've bled for. The colors that my father and his father bled for. It means honoring a tradition of service to my country as those before me have done, and a lineage i hope to pass on to my kids some day. You can't have respect without honor and vise versus. My honor comes from being raised to love my country and the courage to serve not because i was asked to, but because i volunteered to do something bigger than myself. To me that earns everyone's respect and i give that to anyone who has done the same. Knowing that Service is deeply rooted in my family is what encouraged me to carry on the tradition of service to our Nation.

God, Country, Freedom!"