Chicago firefighter Christopher Herrmann (David Eigenberg) is shocked to learn that his son is suspended from school for refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance with his high school class in the April 4th episode of NBC’s Chicago Fire titled “Take a Knee”. Christopher sets about finding a way to teach the teen about true patriotism in the best way possible.
Young Lee Henry (David Von Kampen) is upset that the school’s vending machines have raised the prices on their items for sale so he decides to protest by refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance after the teacher instructs the class to stand and do so. This results in Lee Henry being suspended. Christopher does not take the news well. Lee Henry cites pro athletes as examples of those using the First Amendment to protest.
Christopher: You help me understand this, Lee Henry.
Lee Henry: They raised the prices on the vending machines, and I'm free to express my First Amendment rights however I want, just like pro athletes.
Christopher: Pro athletes?
Lee Henry: The whole point of America is that I have the right to protest and not say the Pledge of Allegiance if I don't want to.
Christopher: You are a Hermann before you are an American, which means I tell you what your rights are! Hermanns do not defile the sacred things which I hold most dear in my heart, like love of country, love of freedom, and love of all the things in history books which tell us that this is the greatest country on Earth!
Bringing along a gift of doughnuts, the Herrmanns meet with the school’s vice-principal about Lee Henry’s suspension. The vice-principal takes the matter too far and labels the teen’s refusal as hate speech. Thinking that they can apologize for Lee Henry’s disruptive classroom behavior but now shocked by the exaggeration, the meeting takes a bad turn as the man accuses Christopher and Cindy (Robyn Coffin) of being bad parents. He insists this behavior is the fault of the parents, not that of a student’s bad decision. Christopher then defends his son for exercising his Constitutional right to protest.
Principal: Thank you.
Christopher: It was nothing. On our way here.
Principal: Oh.
Christopher: We appreciate you calling us down here. It gives us the opportunity to fully apologize on behalf of Lee Henry.
Principal: Well, you should be apologizing to everyone in the school. We have no tolerance for hate speech.
Christopher: Hate speech? I mean, he was just upset about the vending machines. Okay, yeah. No. Yes. Uh, he understands the seriousness of his actions, so--
Principal: Good.
Christopher: Yeah.
Principal: Because let me tell you what I see. See, parents these days are real quick to point fingers everywhere else except at themselves. Now, I assure you Lee Henry learned this inflammatory behavior by being exposed to it either directly or indirectly at home.
Christopher: Excuse me? Hey, no, no, Cindy. He's calling us failures when our son was just exercising his constitutional rights. In fact, that's the whole point of America, is that our son has the right to not say the pledge of allegiance if he doesn't want to.
Principal: Mr. Hermann, will you just-- I suggest you just--
Christopher: No. You know what I suggest? That you remember that this is America! And the Hermann family has something called the First Amendment, which protects us from bullies like you coming in here, "Oh, hate speech"!
So, that escalated quickly!
In the end, Christopher found the perfect way to teach his son about patriotism and the right to use the First Amendment by bringing him along to a local VFW’s pancake breakfast. The room was filled with the most patriotic of all Americans – military veterans. Many of those present were wounded warriors and all of them warmly greeted the firefighters and Lee Henry. Christopher introduced the teen to one Iraq War veteran and said he fought for all American’s freedom of speech. The light bulb went off in Lee Henry’s head and he stood and put his hand over his heart as he recited the Pledge of Allegiance with all the others before they began to eat. Mission accomplished.
Christopher and Cindy aren’t bad parents. Sometimes teens just need to be reigned back in and reminded that America is the greatest country on earth.
