Red Shirt Fridays

Article by: Becca Waters '11

Now entering the tenth year of the War on Terrorism, too many of our fellow Americans have given there lives to let civilians rest their heads every night in peace. A great deal of Americans would disagree with the course the war has taken; some of those Americans may also be the ones directly fighting the war.

There are many big organizations that offer support to military personnel and military families but within the last three or four years a day of the week has been designated to show support for our men and women in uniform.

Red Shirt Fridays. Every Friday you would wear a red shirt of some sort to show your support. Don’t get confused though, wearing the red shirt on Fridays is showing support for the men and women in the uniforms, not the War on Terrorism.

Red Shirt Fridays is rumored to have been started by a man traveling for business. The man traveling for business had a Marine Corps Sergeant that had been invited to sit in first class placed next to him. The man noticed the Sergeant was traveling with a folded flag on his lap. The man made small talk with the Sergeant, and to be polite the man asked the sergeant if he was heading home. The Sergeant responded that he was "escorting a comrade home". The Sergeant explained that his fellow Marine was killed in the line of duty in Iraq.

As the plane landed the pilot stopped short of the gate and made the following announcement:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to note that we have had the honor of having Sergeant Steeley of the United States Marine Corps join us on this flight He is escorting a fallen comrade back home to his family. I ask that you please remain in your seats when we open the forward door to allow Sergeant Steeley to deplane and receive his fellow Marine. We will then turn off the seat belt sign." The story continues that without a sound, all had gone as requested and the man traveling for business noticed the sergeant saluting the casket as it was brought off the plane and realized how truly proud he was to be an American.

The man then decided that to show his pride for his country and his fellow Americans he would dedicate his Fridays to wearing some article of red clothing in recognition of the red blood the has been bled by those who have served in any branch of the United States Armed Forces, past or present.

The story has questionable authenticity but the sacrifice that American men and women have made fighting any war America has been involved in has never been questioned.

If wearing a red shirt on Fridays is a way to show thankfulness to those who make the ultimate sacrifice then let us dawn red to show support to those who sacrifice all for the American way.

All gave some. Some gave all.