Brunswick Beacon, 10.19.23
Donald Trump’s lifelong pattern of insulting veterans as “chumps” was confirmed last week by his longest-serving Chief of Staff, Gen. John Kelly, who said Trump “thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because “‘there is nothing in it for them.’”
As a 22-year-old, Trump avoided serving in Vietnam thanks to a diagnosis of bone spurs by a doctor who rented space from Trump’s father.
In 2015, Trump called Sen. John McCain a “loser." McCain endured five years of torture as a POW in Vietnam. Trump said, “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
As President, Trump refused to allow military amputees in his Independence Day parade because it doesn’t look good for me.” He refused to visit a military cemetery in France for American soldiers killed in WWI. Trump said: “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” On the same trip, he referred to American Marines slain in combat at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed.
Americans should ask themselves who Trump’s real chumps are: the heroes who gave “the last full measure of devotion” to defend their fellow Americans? Or the Cult of Trump, who Gen. Kelly called, “A person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about. A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.”
As a Vietnam Veteran, I am extremely offended and angry that a former Commander in Chief can speak so horribly about veterans and those who served. I consider it an honor to be a Vet and hope that my fellow Vets will join me in rejecting Trump from any position which involves leadership in our government. We all sacrificed for our country and deserve to be respected and honored for that service.
Rich Cooper
Leland