ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, Va. – No one is going to deride the U.S. military in front of Pvt. Mathew Clark and get away with it.

Clark, a student at Broadway High School and a member of the Army National Guard, was having lunch in the cafeteria Friday when he heard some other students ridicule the armed forces.

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Video shot by his sister captured Mathew standing up at his table and announcing, “He just said that, troops that risk their lives every day are a disgrace to the military, and that they shouldn’t be in the military, and he can do our job better than we can.

“Too scared to risk our lives for our country, to die for our country. Didn’t you say that? I just wanted everybody to know that.”

This is my little brother Mathew standing up in the middle of the cafeteria at Broadway High School defending the military and the people in it because somebody had been talking against it. Mathew did not cuss he did not do anything wrong he technically got threatened and cussed at by one of his peers because of it yet Broadway High School’s principal still suspended him. Mathew was suspended on the account of using the cafeteria as his podium to defend the military. I do not think it’s right what happened, especially since the other student who threatened and cussed at Mathew in front of the principal did not get into any trouble. Mathew actually just came home from Army basic training this summer.

Posted by Rahfen Clark on Saturday, November 21, 2015

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Clark’s sister captioned the Facebook post, “This is my little brother Mathew standing up in the middle of the cafeteria at Broadway High School defending the military and the people in it because somebody had been talking against it.”

After Mathew’s announcement, two individuals can be seen storming out of the cafeteria, with what appears to be a school resource officer pursuing one of them. The video ends with students applauding.

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After the incident, Clark was suspended for creating “a major disturbance in the cafeteria, provoking some students to anger and creating a potentially unsafe environment,” according to a letter sent to his parents, WHSV reports.

According to Mathew’s sister, Rahfen Clark, the other boys went unpunished.

“Mathew did not cuss he did not do anything wrong he technically got threatened and cussed at by one of his peers because of it yet Broadway High School’s principal still suspended him. Mathew was suspended on the account of using the cafeteria as his podium to defend the military,” she wrote.

“I do not think it’s right what happened, especially since the other student who threatened and cussed at Mathew in front of the principal did not get into any trouble.”

Mathew’s father, Keith Clark, appeared before the Rockingham County School Board Monday to defend his son.

“He was the one who was bullied, but was punished,” he told WHSV after the meeting.

“To know when you stand up for what you believe in and what’s right, you get punished for it,” was the lesson Mathew learned from the incident, according to his father.

Keith Clark, a retired vet said, “I can’t be any prouder, and that’s the reason I’m here supporting him.”