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<\/a><\/center><\/p>\nFrom Stars & Stripes<\/a>, the story of an airman who took a knee<\/a> during a Remembrance Day service near the Mildenhall War Memorial and the internet went crazy. The Air Force explains that he felt faint, so he did it to prevent injury, but his friend was being unhelpful when he told a civilian that he was mimicking GQ’s Citizen of the Year<\/a> Colin Kaepernick\u2019s protest.<\/p>\n \u201cIt can happen that airmen begin to feel unwell or faint during a formation, so I briefed them all ahead of time that they should step out and take a seat for their own safety if they began to feel at all light-headed, which is exactly what happened in this particular case,\u201d said Maj. Michael Opich, maintenance operations flight commander for the 100th Maintenance Group. \u201cI am glad that he was able to avoid any potential injury.\u201d<\/p>\n Since the formation wasn\u2019t part of a parade, the airmen had to stand at attention for the duration of the ceremony.<\/p>\n \u201cLocking your knees in conjunction with prolonged standing can trigger vasovagal syncope,\u201d according to a statement from the 48th Medical Group at RAF Lakenheath. \u201cThe trigger causes a neural reflex which can lower your heart rate and cause your blood pressure to drop suddenly.<\/p>\n \u201cThis sudden change in blood pressure can result in reduced blood flow to the brain causing you to briefly lose consciousness.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Of course, social media being what it is, the know-it-alls went nuts;<\/p>\n Soon after the event, a photo of the airman taking a knee was shared on the Facebook Traditional British Group. The site also includes multiple posts attacking immigration, left-wing politics, the media and the influence of minority groups.<\/p>\n The photo was \u201csent in by a page reader,\u201d according to the site, and was later posted in other Facebook groups and the popular site Reddit.<\/p>\n After 20 hours, the initial Facebook post received almost 700 shares and 400 comments. Some called for punishment against the airman and a few commenters threatened his safety.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Privates have been passing out during parades and ceremonies since the beginning of standing armies. He clearly looks ill in the picture, I have to believe that he didn’t do that intentionally, but try telling the internet that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"