Ever since I began my blog site, I’ve done my best to avoid writing about national politics. But, with the recent article in the Atlantic September 2, 2020 publication, I can’t remain silent. With Donald Trump rants on the men and women who are or have served in the military, he crossed the line for me. This is not something new or a one-time occurrence. These are a series of comments he has repeatedly made beginning before he became President.

The article states, “… When President Donald Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018, he blamed rain for the last-minute decision, saying that “the helicopter couldn’t fly” and that the Secret Service wouldn’t drive him there. Neither claim was true.

Trump rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day. In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed…”

Our military war heroes are “LOSERS and SUCKER?”

His disdain for the military first became public with verbal clashes with the late Senator John McCann. In July 2015, Trump is quoted as saying about the Arizona Senator and former POW, “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”

The Atlantic article continues, “… When McCain died, in August 2018, Trump told his senior staff, according to three sources with direct knowledge of this event, “We’re not going to support that loser’s funeral,” and he became furious, according to witnesses, when he saw flags lowered to half-staff. “What the fuck are we doing that for? Guy was a fucking loser,” the president told aides…”

“… On at least two occasions since becoming president, according to three sources with direct knowledge of his views, Trump referred to former President George H. W. Bush as a “loser” for being shot down by the Japanese as a Navy pilot in World War II. (Bush escaped capture, but eight other men shot down during the same mission were caught, tortured, and executed by Japanese soldiers.).”

Senator John McCann and President George H. W. Bush were “LOSERS?”

The Atlantic article states, “… On Memorial Day 2017, Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery, a short drive from the White House. He was accompanied on this visit by John Kelly, who was then the secretary of homeland security, and who would, a short time later, be named the White House chief of staff. The two men were set to visit Section 60, the 14-acre area of the cemetery that is the burial ground for those killed in America’s most recent wars. Kelly’s son Robert is buried in Section 60. A first lieutenant in the Marine Corps, Robert Kelly was killed in 2010 in Afghanistan. He was 29. Trump was meant, on this visit, to join John Kelly in paying respects at his son’s grave, and to comfort the families of other fallen service members. But according to sources with knowledge of this visit, Trump, while standing by Robert Kelly’s grave, turned directly to his father and said, “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”””

Never have we had a President who openly exhibited disrespect to the military and those who served. When we elect an individual and swear them into the Office of the President of the United States, he also becomes the Commander-in-Chief of our military services. How can our active duty military men and women respect their Commander-in-Chief when he openly calls them “… LOSERS and SUCKERS…?” How can our retired military leaders, some who have served under Trump, remain silent? How can our congressional members, many who have also served in the military, remain silent?

In 1966, I enlisted in the Air Force. They trained me with Special Forces, and I proudly wore the maroon beret and Pararescue flash. I was deployed to Vietnam in December 1968 and assigned to the 37^th Aerospace Rescue and Recover Service at Da Nang. I spent a year flying recovery missions to rescue down pilots and crew in Cambodia, Laos, and North and South Vietnam. All the crews I flew with did countless medevac or Dustoff as we called them. When we finished returning with the injured, we retrieved the dead.

On a mission to rescue the crew of a downed fighter jet, it forced my flight team to leave me in the jungles north of the DMZ. It took a week for the fighter squadrons of the Navy and Air Force to destroy a mobile SAM unit and ground troops to allow my team to return for me and the injured Air Force colonel.

I am one of thousands of men and women that proudly served our country in the military. I can’t be silent when we are being slandered by a narcissist who currently occupies the White House. Donald Trump is unfit for the Office of the Presidency. It is our civic duty for all Americans who are offended by this defamation and others to remove Trump from office.

I AM NOT A LOSER OR A SUCKER.

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