When you’re looking for some common sense on a heated issue to settle the debate, a farmer is always a good place to go. So perhaps Gene Hanson, a 77-year-old farmer from Edgeley, North Dakota, is just the guy to end this debate once and for all.
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His message? Straight to the point: “We Stand for the National Anthem.”
While such is a view held by many others—even if they’re the only ones on their team—it’s how Hanson got his message out there that caught the attention of the media. The farmer plowed the message into his bean crops, which is the length of two football fields, and took two hours to make. Check it out:
Hanson also told Fox News that “I go with [President] Trump on this one,” noting that “if you want to protest, that’s not the place to do it.”
“A lot of people died over our flag. We’re able to voice our opinion because of it. If you’re going to show respect for anything, do it for the national anthem,” he further explained.
After creating the message, which Hanson told Fox News is done without any technological assistance, he flies over in his plane to see if it’s successful and worthy enough for a picture to post on Facebook. This message was successful on the second try, after being interrupted by passerby, leaving him to look for another part of the field.
This is not Hanson’s only message, and he’s been successful all but twice. In addition to his political messages, usually in support of Trump, who he met at a North Dakota speech the president gave in September on tax reform, he also commemorated Prince’s death last year with his symbol. He has shared these messages with local WDAY TV News.
Hanson doesn’t plan on stopping with his message about the National Anthem. He also planned to add “We Kneel at the Cross,” but was prevented by the season’s first frost. He plans to add the phrase if the weather allows for it. Hanson and his wife are Lutherans, who regularly attend church.
President Trump took notice of the story and shared it to his Facebook page, calling him “a GREAT American.”