eArlier This year, Morgan Akin took off the American flag, which has been flying outside his house deep in northern Northern California for decades. It was a small gesture that didn't pass the lobby of the U.S. Capitol or made headlines.
But for the 84-year-old Vietnam veteran and retired Game Warden, it represents a transformation of the monument, and his family immediately noticed. This is the way to take a stand against an increasingly unrecognizable country. The masked officer arrested an international student a few weeks ago who co-authored reports about newspapers on the streets on the Gaza campus, the biography of Jackie Robinson was temporarily removed from his website, and the president planned a massive military parade to celebrate his birthday.
"U.S. flags won't fly again until everything goes well," Akin said. "They won't take me to El Salvador."
Until this year, Ajin has not participated in the protest. This year, he and his wife have gone three, joining hundreds of others in the conservative community on the streets, demonstrating against the government, and cutting veterans affairs and important social programs.
Older Americans like Akin are one of the most disapproving things that Donald Trump has performed as president. A NPR/PBS News/Marist poll found that only 37% of the "maximum/silent" generation born before 1947 approved his job as president. But given that most veterans usually vote Republicans — six out of 10 said they support Trump in 2024.
Akin has always supported Democrats, attributed to Texas's segregation growth and saw southern states become Republicans in the civil rights era. He loves his hometown, but finds it very prejudiced and can never shake his connection with Republican and racism.
He joined the Marines at the age of 17 and said he learned that you have to get along and survive, regardless of background or religion. "You all bleed the same way," he said. "Since then, my whole attitude has changed a lot of things. So I've been a Democrat (because) I first signed up."
Akin spent nine years in the military, training recruits to work as drilling coaches and eventually left as a faculty sergeant to attend college. After graduation, Akin worked at the Game Warden of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. He worked across the state, overseeing operations in the city and county of San Francisco, which eventually brought Akin and his family to Shasta County, which is now 180,000 people in the state’s northernmost conservative heartland.
They like Shasta County so much that they decided to retire there. His wife worships many trees, and similar people who grew up hunting and fishing found that there is a lot to do in the area. They have developed deep ties with Shasta for thirty years and often volunteered as pollsters, while Akin spent years working with a group of retired veterans.
The couple are both determined Democrats and have been overtaken by conservatives. Of the nearly 116,000 registered voters in the region, 52% are registered Republicans, while only 21% of Democrats are Democrats. He said that it didn't bother Akin, and in most cases, never caused a problem - even though someone once threw a rock on the back window of his truck and he put Obama stickers on. He said Akin pointed out that he should not argue with friends or friends in churches, but he did not hide his own opinions.
In 2020, he placed a Joe Biden logo in his front yard. Last year, he put a Kamala Harris logo there. Akin said people usually pay tribute to it until 2024 when someone asked him to remove Harris' logo. He refused.
Nevertheless, as Shasta County became more conservative, this became difficult, and the far-right movement made the area the center of election denial. Appointing Florida's election skeptics to lead the county election office has led him to consider whether he wants to continue to serve as a pollster on his own. Local political turmoil has been on the radar, but he has no plans to leave.
"If someone says, 'Why don't you move out of Shasta, go somewhere else'. I say, 'When I move, I'm going to Igo, that's it. There's no other place.'
But there is a sense of harshness in the community, a sense of chaos in the country’s politics exacerbated. Akin found himself watching TV constantly trying to keep up with it all. Akin said the attacks on the judiciary and the attacks on immigrants made him particularly frustrating, pointing to the arrest of Rumesa Öztürk, who was detained in the street by masked immigration agents to her political speech. “They don’t want to be shown, which shows me that they know they’re doing something wrong, but they’re doing it anyway.”
The Trump administration’s plans have many factors in their own life. As a veteran of people with disabilities, he received care from a local Virginia facility, which he said provides some of the best VA services he has ever experienced. According to internal documents obtained by the guardian, the planned mass layoffs, canceled contracts and employment freezes in the system have damaged patient care.
Meanwhile, Akin's daughter, a teacher, became a federal program that provides early childhood education for low-income families, and the government has proposed cuts, although it has turned the direction around.
"What happened to me is irrelevant because I am 84 years old. My lifespan is decreasing every day, so overall it may not have a significant impact on me. But I have two children. I have three grandchildren. I have four great-grandchildren now." "How does this affect their future?"
"He just tore the country apart. The whole structure of the country was torn apart. The worst thing about it was the people who were hurt - the immigrants who came here seriously."
He is concerned about disabled veterans and the care they will receive in the future. He fears that the U.S. government may use the military against citizens a day. Now, similar to advocating his abilities. He and his wife plan to continue protesting.
Outside his home, the U.S. Marine Corps flag is still flying, but now it is waving with the Ukrainian flag. The American flag is still abandoned. "I'd still be upset if I saw someone turning it upside down. I'd be very upset when my wife saw a US flag with Trump's face on it," he said. "Because we always respect the flag. Now, it's more toxic."