I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same . . .

Justin Scrimshire, an assistant deputy director for Oklahoma Boys State, began his address at the Kingfisher High School Veterans Day Program by reciting the military oath of allegiance.

“That military oath is the currency that America uses to pay for your freedoms,” he told the crowd, which included the high school student body as well as veterans and other visitors.

“America’s strength comes from the power of ‘we’ but its security depends on the selflessness of ‘I do solemnly swear.’”

Quoting Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Scrimshire said: “‘The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.’”

“Twelve times in our history we have deemed war necessary and 12 times when soldiers return from the battlefield – if they returned at all – they were not what they were before,” he said.

“That is why we gather today,” he said. “The thing that no one wants to do, they had to do and they did so with honor.”

Scrimshire did not criticize protests for social justice, racial equality and other issues that have raged across the country over the last couple of years.

But he reminded students that they have veterans to thank for the privilege of speaking out.

“In your protest and in your outrage, you need to understand that your right to object has been bought at a price and it was not paid by you,” he said.

He also suggested that protests over the national anthem likely misunderstand the song’s lyrics.

“The next time you listen to the national anthem, really listen to what it is and what it is not.

“It is not a declaration of patriotism. It is not a statement of America’s supremacy.

“‘The Star Spangled Banner’ in its entirety is a question. That question simply is: ‘does the flag still wave?’”

Scrimshire said the question is as relevant today as it was on Sept. 14, 1812, when the song was first written by Frances Scott Key.

“The disrespect and disregard we have for people with differing opinions and viewpoints is as bad as I have ever seen it in my lifetime,” he said.

“She [the flag] has survived every conflict, scandal, injustice and setback.

“At no time has she ever flown over a perfect country but continues to represent the very best of what we can be – always pointing us to a better future. And she does so because a veteran said ‘I do solemnly swear.’

“We are the land of the free because of the brave.”

The Pride of Kingfisher, under the direction of Dakota Horn, performed the national anthem, “America the Beautiful,” “God Bless America,” “Battle Hymn of the Repub lic,” and the “Marches of the Armed Forces,” as Xander Bolner recognized the veterans present from each branch.

The high school choir, under the direction of Diann Magnus, performed “Tell My Father,” with solos by Cale Leck, Ethan Willimon and Caleb Hendryx, and “In Flanders Field,” featuring the trio of Wade Barrios, Stormie Shockey and Willimon, and “America.”

Boys State delegate Brenden Hill presented a powerful monologue based on an excerpt of MacArthur’s famous 1962 “Duty, Honor and Country” fairwell speech to U.S. Military Academy cadets.

A trumpet player in the band, Hill also performed “Taps” to end the program, along with fellow trumpeter Blake Mayfield.

Other program participants included Sydney Purintun, student council president, who called the program to order; Braxton Mecklenburg, who led the pledge of allegiance; James Perdue, Alli Themer and Konner Baartman, who read the poems “God Bless America,” “In Flanders Field,” and “The Noble and the Brave,” respectively, and Noah Schaefer, who provided a history of Veterans Day.