Wednesday, Jul. 7, 2021
Did the US women’s soccer team turn their back on a WWII vet playing the national anthem on a harmonica?
Most members of the team had turned to face the American flag, a tradition during the national anthem, while a few faced forward as the song was played before a game on July 5, 2021.
Contrary to social media posts that criticized team members who were not turned toward Pete DuPré, 98, while he played "The Star Spangled Banner," none turned their backs on DuPré.
Neil Buethe, chief communications officer for U.S. Soccer, called the claims and criticism "100 percent false.
"Some players were simply looking at the flag … in one end of the stadium. The players have known Pete since 2019, have a deep respect for him (and) his military service."
Responding to online critics, player Carli Lloyd tweeted: "We turned because we faced the flag."
According to military.com, it is protocol for nonmilitary persons to face the flag during the national anthem.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Military.com Rules for Saluting US Flag
About fact briefs
Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.
See all fact briefs
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
Learn MoreLatest Fact Briefs
Did California introduce a bill to allow mothers to kill their babies up to 7 days after birth?
Wednesday, Apr. 6, 2022
Did Biden suck dry the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
Wednesday, Apr. 6, 2022