Colin Kaepernick, right. Thearon W. Henderson/Getty

Colin Kaepernick's decision to sit or kneel in silent protest during the national anthem before NFL games has attracted praise and criticism since he began doing it more than a year ago.

The then-49ers quarterback said he was "not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color."

While some called it a "slap in the face" to the military, many veterans do not see it that way.

"He is exercising his constitutional right, and I'm glad that he's doing it," Benjamin Starks, a veteran of both the US Navy and the US Army Reserve, told Business Insider in September 2016.

Kaepernick has yet to join an NFL team this season, which some attribute to an active decision by teams to exclude him. But his protest has been debated with renewed vigor in recent days, after President Donald Trump excoriated him and others in the league who have supported him.

"Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out — he's fired!'" Trump said during a rally in Alabama on Friday night.

US Army 1st Lt. Steve Smith near the scene of fighting in eastern Baghdad, Iraq, March 29, 2009. US Army via Wikimedia Commons

Veterans have continued to voice their support and opposition to the manner in which Kaepernick protested systemic racism and police brutality.

"I can tell you, speaking for three generations of my family, it is PRECISELY for men like Kaepernick, and his right to peacefully protest injustice, that we were willing to serve," said Michael Sands, a Green Beret who is the son of a World War II veteran and father of an Army officer who served in Afghanistan. "Want to respect the American flag? Then respect the ideals for which it stands. Bullying language and calling peaceful protesters 'sons of bitches' who should be fired aren't among them."

Army veteran Chad Longell, writing in the right-leaning Independent Journal Review, downplayed Trump's comments and called on Kaepernick and others to embrace the flag and anthem. "Focusing on the values those symbols represent will empower us to find the path forward toward the type of future we all desire," Longell said.

In September 2016, Business Insider asked veterans for their thoughts on Kaepernick. Many were happy to share their views, and one thing became very clear: The opinions of veterans can greatly vary. Below, you can see what they had to say, lightly edited for clarity.