Ready for some goosebumps?
If so, watch 98-year-old WWII veteran Pete DuPré play the national anthem on his harmonica before Sunday’s USWNT vs. Mexico send-off match ahead of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo:
98-year-old World War II veteran Pete DuPré played the national anthem on a harmonica before the @USWNT’s Olympic send-off match 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/wnrOnZJhkC
— ESPN (@espn) July 5, 2021
But did you notice how some of the women on the team were facing in different directions? Right now, there’s an ongoing debate over just what happened:
God bless him. Let’s celebrate him and nation he served & give no special attention to the handful of ingrates who turned away as he performed. https://t.co/t5kTMUzXJn
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 6, 2021
As you can see in this still image from the video, some of the women are facing forward while others are facing away from DuPré but toward a U.S. flag at the end of the stadium:
@TheAmishDude
It wasn’t all of them. It was some protesting the national anthem like I’m sure they do every time. pic.twitter.com/6SGsYP7Pb3— Andy Lancaster (@andylancaster) July 6, 2021
It certainly appears that the women facing forward have turned away from the flag, as Richard Grenell notes here:
Every woman on the Mexican Soccer Team faced the flag & sang the Mexican National anthem.
Several woman on the U.S. Soccer team turned away from the US flag – while a 92 year old Veteran played the anthem on a harmonica.
Why didn’t @USWNT show the women turning away? https://t.co/8OCa7eToZD
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) July 5, 2021
To be clear, Grenell and others are calling out the players who faced forward and not those that faced away from DuPré with their hands over their hearts:
You are wrong. The flag is to the women’s right. The women facing forward turned away from the US flag despite their teammates facing them.
Here’s a picture of the whole team. Which one facing forward has their hand on their heart?! https://t.co/pklKwlHxGy pic.twitter.com/TgngxSPlac
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) July 6, 2021
But there is some confusion:
We turned because we faced the flag 🇺🇸 https://t.co/1JJHUWGCLv
— Carli Lloyd (@CarliLloyd) July 6, 2021
U.S. Soccer released a statement saying, “To be clear, no one turned their back on WWII Veteran Pete DuPré during tonight’s anthem. Some USWNT players were simply looking at the flag on a pole in one end of the stadium. The players all love Pete, thanked him individually after the game and signed a ball for him”:
To be clear, no one turned their back on WWII Veteran Pete DuPré during tonight's anthem. Some USWNT players were simply looking at the flag on a pole in one end of the stadium. The players all love Pete, thanked him individually after the game and signed a ball for him.
— U.S. Soccer Comms (@ussoccer_comms) July 6, 2021
They released this video after the game of the players greeting DuPré and signing a soccer ball:
❤️🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/JEDm92H0bf
— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) July 6, 2021
And:
This is respect. Each and every player waited for their opportunity to come up to Pete post-game before getting on the bus, said hello, thanked him and signed his ball. https://t.co/0fhtkTSxIF
— U.S. Soccer Comms (@ussoccer_comms) July 6, 2021
But this isn’t what Grenell and others are arguing. It’s the facing forward that’s the issue:
Several players turned away from honoring the US flag and the US national anthem he was playing. Not one of those who snubbed the flag & anthem tuned toward Pete. Pete was to their left. (See below). They aren’t turned to him. (Every Mexican player turned for their anthem). https://t.co/hFU0faJvUs pic.twitter.com/ksiPm72PFv
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) July 6, 2021
And where was Megan Rapinoe during the anthem?
I didn’t see @mPinoe standing with the team for the US National anthem.
Did I miss seeing her standing with the team or did she skip it? https://t.co/DTgcT7tuzb
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) July 6, 2021
Next stop, Tokyo — and we’ll have to wait and see if there’s a flag protest there, or not:
Send-Off complete ✔️
Japan, here we come! ✈️ pic.twitter.com/NltNKyLiqU— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) July 6, 2021
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