California Man Heckles 103 Year Old World War II Veteran During Memorial Day Parade

Disgusting.

We’re fresh off of Memorial Day, a time when we should all be thankful for those who have fought and died for the freedoms that we enjoy every day here in America. We live in the greatest country in the history of the world, and it’s because all of those who have put on the uniform and offered their lives to keep us safe and free.

But apparently this guy doesn’t see it that way.

Video from a Memorial Day parade in La Cañada Flintridge, California has gone viral, showing a man seated at the parade and booing while giving a thumbs down to the grand marshal of the parade: Ivan Cregger, a 103-year old veteran of the United States Air Force who served in World War II from 1943-1945.

In fact, Cregger is actually older than the Air Force itself. At the time he served, the Air Force was still under the US Army and known as the US Army Air Forces, though at the time it operated nearly independently and was eventually made its own branch of the military thanks to the National Security Act of 1947.

In 1943, Cregger was part of the Ploesti Air Raids during Operation Tidal Wave, whose goal was to knock out Romanian oil fields that supplied fuel to Axis powers. The raid was a success and credited with shortening the war, but it came at a steep cost: Of the 50 bombers in Cregger’s squadron, only three made it back safely. And in total, 310 crew were either killed or went missing during the raid, with 190 being captured by Axis powers.

The man is a hero in every sense of the word, and is one of the less than 1% of WWII veterans who are still alive today.

But apparently even with all that, this guy at the parade still wasn’t impressed:

@danishsunfun

Memorial Day berating Veterans all day including the Grand Marshall, 103 year old hero. Betrayal of the National Values you now have due to this hero. #shamefull #type #disrespectful

♬ God Bless The U.S.A. – Lee Greenwood

And it wasn’t just Cregger that he was heckling: The man could also be heard mocking a group of young children, calling them the “Baby Army” and comparing them to the Hitler Youth:

@danishsunfun

Theo’s hypocrisy by enjoying the very freedoms safeguarded by veterans, including freedom of speech, while simultaneously belittling those who served and sacrificed to protect those rights. Not even the cub scouts or boy scouts were off limits. hypocrisy memorialday

♬ original sound – TK

Of course the irony, and one of the great things about our country, is that veterans like Cregger fought and died for this man’s right to disagree with them and disrespect them, and it’s only because of the brave men and women in uniform that he has the right to speak out against his country and his military.

But many in the comments also used their freedom of speech to criticize the man for his disrespectful actions:

“Imagine the absolute audacity–he’s literally there sitting at a parade off from work because of the sacrifices these heroes made”

“What a scum bag”

“Why are they at a Memorial Day parade then? Do they know what Memorial Day is for? I fear not.”

“He’s giving a thumbs down to the person that allowed him to do that”

“Every confrontational bone in my body is screaming”

Of course you know this guy is some Trump-hating liberal who screams about fighting Nazis. But ironically, he’s heckling somebody who fought ACTUAL Nazis.

The irony….

@ironpatriot1976

#Meme #MemeCut #CapCut #memorialday #thefallen #freedom @Theo Philpot

♬ eredeti hang – Kiro

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