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FIRST ON FOX: Bestselling author Jack Carr, who served the nation for 20 years as a Navy SEAL sniper and military leader, learned of an unusual story during his most recent book tour — and shared the details exclusively with Fox News Digital.
He was speaking in Franklin, Tennessee, in mid-May to a crowd of people about his new novel, "The Fourth Option," when a high school teacher approached him afterward to relay an anecdote.
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More than half the students in the Mississippi teacher's class, the educator told Carr, were remaining seated during the Pledge of Allegiance each morning.
Dismayed by that, the substitute teacher, Kelly McGinnis, of Northwest Rankin High School in Flowood, Mississippi, said that when he asked his students why they weren't standing for the pledge, many struggled to explain their actions.
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"Very few would speak up," McGinnis told Fox News Digital.
"Quite a few said their parents had served [in the military], and they had [other] family members who had served, but they just felt like the way the country was at this time — they didn't agree with some of the politics and policies," he added.
McGinnis said he decided to start conversations with his students.
As part of those talks, he introduced them to books by Carr, the former Navy SEAL whose popular thrillers include deeply embedded themes of service, sacrifice and patriotism woven through the narrative storylines.
McGinnis said he was drawn to Carr's work for those reasons.
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"It seemed like his message was one of patriotism and the sacrifices that people, not only in the military but average citizens, were making for the common good," McGinnis said.
He made Carr's books available to his students — and encouraged them to give the stories a try.
As more students became familiar with Carr's work, McGinnis said he began noticing changes in both the classroom discussions and the students' behavior.
"Not only were a lot more of the kids standing [for the Pledge of Allegiance], they were encouraging others to stand," he said.
"A lot of the kids were coming around to saying, 'I really don't know why I wasn't standing,'" McGinnis added.
McGinnis shared this story with Carr after waiting in line to meet him during a book tour stop.
The author told Fox News Digital the encounter stood out to him among the many interactions he's had with readers over the years and stories he's heard from them.
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"This one was different," Carr said. "It really made an impact."
Carr said the teacher's tale reinforced his belief that reading can have a powerful influence on young people, particularly at a time when many spend hours scrolling on their phones.
"The books, and the students sitting down with those books and reading instead of scrolling, made an impact," Carr said.
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"I think it's a story that highlights just how important a teacher is," Carr said.
"If you pick up a book and put down that phone, it's going to be a better life. I guarantee it."
Both Carr and McGinniss said they believe the attention around America's 250th anniversary this year may be encouraging students to think more deeply about the nation's history — as well as the sacrifices for freedom made by previous generations.
"Maybe, even subliminally, they think, 'Oh, 250 years of this experiment called America, and all this sacrifice that let me be here today in this classroom and have options available to me as I go [from] high school and possibly [on to] college or a trade school — whatever I'm gonna do as I move forward,'" said Carr. "It's essentially, ‘Hey, I won the lotto by being born in the United States of America.’ And maybe hearing that over and over again this year — and you don't hear it every year — it's natural, I think, to reflect on those 250 years in this case, and maybe just have a little more awareness than usual ahead of the Fourth of July."
McGinnis, for his part, said, "The 250th is becoming more prominent. I think it'll really build momentum going toward July 4th."
Carr said the milestone offers an opportunity for Americans to reflect on the country's history and the generations of people whose sacrifices helped shape it.
"It's good for the country to take a breath, look back, reflect and appreciate those sacrifices," he said.
Carr is the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of "The Terminal List" and host of the "Danger Close Podcast."
Last year his nonfiction book, "Targeted: Beirut: The 1983 Marine Barracks Bombing and the Untold Origin Story of the War on Terror," written with co-author, military historian and Pulitzer Prize finalist James Scott, was published.
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He is a former Navy SEAL Task Unit commander and sniper with deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. He led special operations teams as a team leader, platoon commander, troop commander and task unit commander.
He is married and is the father of three children.