A Soldier's Right

They earned the right to choose.

As I have written before, we are shaped by our life experiences.  My past was soldiering, and it has certainly influenced my thinking.

 I was on my Main Street the other day, and an older man walked by me wearing his “I’m a Veteran” hat.  Just in passing, I usually thank them for their service.  This time was different; I noticed a pin on his collar, “Trump 2024.”  It made me think.  How can a military veteran be for Trump?

From my vantage point, Trump’s disrespect for the military is beyond disgraceful; it is unforgivable, and I cannot understand how a Veteran, in particular, can support him.

Some cases to make my point.

In 2016, then-candidate Trump told a supporter who gave him a copy of his Purple Heart: "I always wanted to get the Purple Heart.  This was much easier." Can you imagine the total lack of understanding of what this medal represents?

In 2017, he visited the grave of the son of General Kelly, 1st Lt. Robert Kelly, who died in Afghanistan in 2010; Trump reportedly said: "I don't get it.  What was in it for them?"

            As Commander-in-Chief, Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018, claiming his helicopter could not fly him there.  But his comment to his staff told the truth.  "Why should I go to that cemetery?  It's filled with losers."  Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as "suckers" for getting killed.  According to the staff there, he did not go because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain and because he did not believe it important to honor the American war dead.  Can you even imagine that of a Commander-in-Chief?

At the command ceremony for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Milley, the former Army Captain Luis Avila, who was seriously wounded after five combat tours in Afghanistan, sang “God Bless America” at the ceremony.  When Avila finished his performance, Milley claimed that Trump told him, "Why do you bring people like that here?  No one wants to see that, the wounded," before telling him not to let Avila appear in public again.

 In 2019, in preparation for Trump’s visit to the U.S. Naval base in Yokosuka, Japan, the Trump White House requested the U.S. Navy cover the name of the USS John S. McCain.  When asked about McCain as a hero, Trump responded, “He was a war hero because he was captured; I like people who weren’t captured.”  Trump’s disrespect for Senator McCain is so well documented it only needs to be said that Trump is not fit to clean the boots of Senator John McCain.

A recent Trump announcement on social media was that General Milley was a traitor who deserved to be executed.  Execute the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  Really?   As a result, General Milley and his family required special security.  Now he announced that Putin can do whatever he wants to our NATO allies.  If Putin invades, we must defend our allies.  And how many soldiers will we sacrifice for Trump’s hubris?

There are many other examples of his total disregard for the sacrifice of our military personnel.

All this hostility and disrespect towards the military by a man who, in the fall of 1968, received a dubious, if not fraudulent, exemption from military service for diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels.  It should be noted there has never been mention of that condition in any of Trump’s medical exams.

What has happened to America that we could elect, and possibly re-elect, a Commander-in-Chief who has no respect for the service member, the wars they fought, their sacrifices, and the service they provide to each of us?  To disregard the pain and suffering of those who have served is beyond sinful.  It is unforgivable.  To honor our fallen is a sacred duty.  We can never forget their service and their sacrifice.

I served with brave men and women who placed their lives on the line.  I am not a combat veteran, but men in my units died serving.  My mentor and my first sergeant, both dear friends and steadfast soldiers, are dead.  I think of them often and honor them every day of my life.  I have been and continue to be affected by their loss.  The after-effects of service, brought on by battle or service alone, have been devastating for many.  Their sacrifice cannot be diminished by anyone, and most certainly not by the likes of a coward like Donald Trump.  I am personally sickened by the thought of a man of Trump’s lack of integrity and disregard for the American servicemen and women being Commander-in-Chief. 

It is every American’s right, no one more so than our veterans, to support whomever they wish.  I don’t say this man I passed on the street, this veteran, can’t support Trump; I just would like to know how he can.  If there is a Vet reading this who supports Trump, I would sincerely like to understand how that can be.  Is there some attribute of Trump that is so exemplary that it overshadows his blatant disrespect and disregard for American service members, which permits the veterans to support him?  There must be some rational reason; I just am at a loss to see it.

The Office of the President is all about honor and integrity.

The rest is just crap. Thus ends the lesson.