Memorial Day. A day to remember and
give our respect, thanks and prayers to those who sacrificed their lives to
protect democracy at home and across the globe.
This Memorial Day we should also
pause to consider what an American military hero, General John Kelly, shared
with us about someone he closely served as chief-of-staff and who is currently
hoping to become our president and commander-in-chief.
On Memorial Day 2017 then-President
Donald Trump made the obligatory presidential visit to Arlington Cemetery in
the company of General Kelly. There, in front of the grave of Kelly’s own son,
Trump questioned why anyone would sacrifice their life in battle. “I don’t get
it. What’s in it for them?”
One year later, according to
General Kelly and three other staff members who were present, Trump insisted on
canceling a scheduled visit to the American Cemetery in Paris to honor the
Americans who gave their lives in liberating France. “Why should I go to that
cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” He went on to refer to marines dying in
France as “suckers.”
After returning from France, Trump asked
Kelly to develop a military parade to demonstrate to the world the strength of America’s
military hardware but advised Kelly not to include any wounded veterans in the
parade. According to Kelly, the following conversation commenced:
“Look, I don’t want any wounded
guys in the parade,” Trump insisted.
“Those are the heroes,” Kelly
replied. “In our society, there’s only one group of people who are more heroic
than they are – and they are buried over in Arlington.”
Trump didn’t care. “I don’t want
them. It doesn’t look good for me.”
General Mark Milley repeats a
similar experience. At an event honoring veterans, a veteran who survived war
but his legs did not, was introduced to Trump. Trump was harsh with Milley
afterward, “Why do you bring people like that here? No one wants to see that,
see the wounded.” He ordered his Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to never
repeat that offense.
There was an early clue that Trump
had no respect for our military heroes when on national television in 2015 he
argued that John McCain, who, when a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam was offered the
opportunity to be released from the POW camp because McCain’s father was an admiral,
but refused the North Vietnamese offer saying he did not deserve preferential
treatment over the other Americans in captivity, is “not a war hero…because he
was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
While McCain did not defend himself
against Trump’s remarks, he did defend a Gold Star family that Trump was being
hostile towards in 2016 because the parents of a slain soldier were Muslim and
they had made public they would not be voting for Mr. Trump.
“In recent days, Donald Trump
disparaged a fallen soldier’s parents. He has suggested that the likes of their
son should not be allowed in the United States – to say nothing of his entering
its service. I cannot emphasize enough how strongly I disagree with Mr. Trump’s
statement,” McCain said. “I hope Americans understand that the remarks do not
represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers, or candidates.”
But when our Republican Party, its
officers and its candidates insist on supporting Trump to be their leader after
Trump’s feelings about our servicemen and women who have given their lives so
others might live in freedom have been a matter of record, how can they not be
associated with such unpatriotic, uncaring thinking?
Those who smile when they see Trump
hug the American flag and offer timely salutes may have difficulty questioning
whether Trump can actually be this callous towards those who have fallen. They
then need to consider those who have actually been in his presence who know
firsthand. Here’s what Trump’s former communications director Alyssa Griffin says:
“Despite publicly praising the military and
claiming to be the most pro-military president…Trump will fundamentally never
understand service the way those who have actually served in uniform will, and
it’s one of the countless reasons he’s unfit to be commander-in-chief,” she
stated after giving examples of his failure in her presence to have empathy for
those who serve and who have fallen.
This is all worth considering given in a
handful of months we must make a decision on who is fit to serve as
commander-in-chief.
Trump’s Secretary of Defense Mark Esper warns
“I think he’s unfit for office. He puts himself before the country. His actions
are all about him and not about the country.”
Having worked closely with Trump, General Kelly
concludes that Trump “…is a person that has no idea what America stands for and
has no idea what America is all about.”
And Trump being restored to the presidency?
“God help us” laments the general.
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