Kaepernick kneeling has nothing to do with veterans or the armed forces. That was one of the dumbest misdirections that the right invented, all so they could talk about everything and anything except police brutality.
Military families have decided that it, indeed, does. You people here, who have probably never stood a post or heard a shot in anger, aren't going to be the ones deciding this.
I am not a veteran, but my younger adult son is, having served a tour of duty in Afghanistan. I can assure you that he, and many military families, view Kapernick as disrespecting them. That's more his issue than mine, but I don't see his viewpoint as wrong. And for you to say, "That has nothing to do with veterans . . ." is to dismiss THEIR viewpoints totally.
Kapernick's kneeling hardened the hearts of many people who may well have come to agree with him on the social issues he cares about. I agree that Kapernick's issues have merit. I don't agree that Kapernick is some kind of patriot; his motivation is more identity politics than real justice. I do care very much about criminal justice reform, but I would prefer to discuss the issue with serious people who might be able to make a coherent argument and not people who have struck me as flat-out unpatriotic and anti-American. I can agree with a decent amount of the issues Kapernick raises, but I'm not going to celebrate his mindset, and that comes with his presentation.
Then it's really narcissistic of them to believe that the national anthem is for them, as opposed to for the country as a whole.
The idea that kneeling during the national anthem is an affront to the armed forces specifically suggests that we are just a 21st century Prussia - a military that just happens to have a country it's allegiant to in its spare time.
The context of standing for the National Anthem during NFL games is a context of honoring America and of honoring those who fought to defend it. Kapernick and his kneelers are, indeed, making more than one statement by their kneeling. You'll forgive the fact that my son, who has put himself in harms way on behalf of America (whatever one may think of our Afghanistan policy) takes this personally. Kapernick doesn't have the right to my son's understanding (or mine, for that matter).
And you have the right to define Kaepernick's message for him because...?
