This is in response to an Associated Press story printed May 12 about three eighth-graders in Minnesota who refused to stand up for the Pledge of Allegiance at their school.

As a young adult and a wife of a man serving in Iraq, I was astonished to see that individuals living in this country would not have respect for their flag and country. Even if they do not want to say the pledge, they could at least see it as a symbol of freedom and respect it.

If it were not for soldiers serving in this country’s wars over the years, those boys may not even have a school to go to, or a flag to represent them.

My husband, and thousands of others, have chosen to leave their families and homes, go to a country that they do not live in or desire to see, and risk their futures, families, hopes and dreams, not to mention their lives, to make sure that people like those boys can live in a free country.

Not only was it disrespectful to the flag and country, but they are basically laughing in all the faces of the men and women who are willing to die for them.

Maybe they should consider my husband, who has a whole lot of life ahead of him, leaving all the people who love him, to risk his life for them – three young, naive boys he doesn’t even know.

Krysten Thurlow, Greene