This Fort Mill crowd couldn’t have knelt if they wanted to. Why, they ask, would you?

The national anthem played. It plays during every “Not Just Another Love Story” performance. In the least surprising detail of the night, the audience stood.

“This group is all for standing,” said Michigan resident and Berlin Airlift veteran Richard Pilon Sr. “You don’t have to worry about any of that stuff happening with our group. Not at all.”

NarroWay Theatre hosted about 70 former fliers Friday night from the Berlin Airlift Veterans Association. The group, with an average age of 90, holds an annual reunion and goes to Germany every five years. This year they came to the greater Charlotte area for four days. Coincidentally, as national debate continued on the proper posture regarding the flag.

“There’s a lot of standers in the group,” said Eddie Ide, reunion chairman.

“They’re very patriotic men, and we have no time for that kind of shenanigans in this country. My personal philosophy is, if those people are kneeling on one knee they should be giving thanks to God that they’re in the United States of America.”

National Football League players have been kneeling in growing numbers during the anthem performance at their games since former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick made the gesture last season in protest of several incidents of police shootings of unarmed African Americans and overall oppression of people of color in this country. President Donald Trump spoke and tweeted criticism of the movement, including suggestions that team owners should get rid of players who he says disrespect the flag by kneeling during the anthem.

In response, league games the last full weekend in September — just before the airlift veterans arrived — featured a variety of protests or signs of solidarity from players to coaches to team owners. Sparking further debate among many fans on how to treat the anthem and flag.

While he and his group take their patriotism seriously, Ide said respect for the flag isn’t the only reason his men stood on Friday night.

“Most of these men can’t get on one knee anyway,” he joked.

Part of their coming to this area was to see a plane used in the airlift, now at a Concord, N.C., facility, 69 years ago. The 11-month airlift ran from June 1948 to May 1949.

“These gentlemen flew the airplanes that landed every three minutes for 15 months, with everything that the people needed to exist on, except water,” Ide said. “They saved the city of Berlin, and they stopped communism.”

According to the association, crews delivered more than 2 million supplies with 270,000 flights. International forces occupied sectors of Germany after World War II, and the Soviet Union blockaded western Berlin from roads to rails and canals. The people there were left without food, clothing and medical supplies.

The United States and Great Britain responded by air.

“These gentlemen are all genuine American heroes,” Ide said. “The Berlin Airlift was the most significant non-combat military operation of the 20th century and kept Europe from being taken over by the Soviets.”

“Not Just Another Love Story” gets its fair share of veterans. The 1940s-era show is set during World War II and has classic songs, costumes and themes. NarroWay staff say they recall plenty of tears when the anthem is played at a particularly poignant point in the storyline. They can’t recall anyone ever kneeling.

Even the performance Friday night had two sets of veterans, with the Rolling Thunder motorcycle group bringing a crowd, too. Rolling Thunder advocates and accounts for prisoners of war and those missing in action. NarroWay staff said even with all the veterans who have come through the theater, the Friday night show was a special event.

“To have that many heroes from that generation in the house is truly a remarkable experience,” said NarroWay co-founder Rebecca Martin. “We always remind our cast that when they shake hands with a veteran from that era, they are holding hands with history.”

This story was originally published October 2, 2017 at 1:28 PM with the headline "This Fort Mill crowd couldn’t have knelt if they wanted to. Why, they ask, would you?."