More Military Problems for Trump

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Donald Trump comes from a long line of Trump men who could never be bothered to serve their country in uniform.  Donald received five draft deferments during the Vietnam years -including the spurious "bone spurs" excuse.  His father did not serve, his grandfather did not serve, and none of his adult sons have served in the United States military.

But now that Trump is Commander-in-Chief of the United States military, he is a fan of our Armed Forces, right?  Well, perhaps, up to a point.  He likes the idea of a strong military, one which can form up into big beautiful parades and glorify him.  But he wants them to be sharp and look good.  Trump has reportedly said that he does not like the idea of wounded veterans marching in parades.  Wounds denote a weakness in Trump's eyes.

In fact, Donald Trump seems to have a problem not only with wounded troops, but with captured troops and dead troops as well.

Senator John McCain was shot down by the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War and served five-and-a half years as a prisoner in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" where he received injuries that plagued him for the rest of his life.   McCain was disparaged by presidential candidate Donald Trump in July of 2015 when Trump declared that McCain was not a war hero, and then added "I like people who weren't captured."   When McCain passed away three years later, Trump told members of his senior staff, "We're not going to do anything to support that loser's funeral," and he became angry when he learned that flags on federal buildings had been lowered to half-staff.  Later Trump reversed himself and took credit for giving McCain's funeral a national spotlight.

And then there was the whole "bounty gate" affair where US intelligence agencies allegedly warned the White House in early 2019 that the Russians were placing bounties with the Taliban on the lives of American military serving in Afghanistan.  The American public became aware of these allegations over two months ago, but as of yet there has been no formal statement from the White House (or from any prominent Republican office holder) regarding these serious allegations.  Trump, for his part, has indicated that he believes the allegations are "fake news" (although the CIA regards them as credible), and he has declined to bring them up with Russia's Putin.

Yesterday evening The Atlantic posted an on-line article by Jeffrey Goldberg, one of its editors, entitled "Trump:  Americans Who Died in War Are 'Losers' and 'Suckers'.  One thing that article mentions is a reported attack that Trump has launched on former President George H.W. Bush on at least two occasions since Trump has been president.  Citing three unnamed sources with direct knowledge of the incidents, the report alleges that Trump referred to the elder Bush as being a "loser" because he was shot down by the Japanese during World War II.  (Bush escaped capture, but eight other men on the same mission were caught, tortured, and killed by the Japanese.)

The remarks about an American pilot being a "loser" were bad enough, but the real meat of yesterday's Atlantic article was much worse.

The article focused on Trump's trip to France in June of 2018 to participate in a ceremony honoring Allied war dead at a cemetery near Paris.   After being flown to Paris on the taxpayer's dime and checking into a nice hotel, Trump decided at the last minute not to visit the cemetery after all - because it was raining.  The popular notion at the time was that Trump's vanity was in play and he did not want to get his high-maintenance hair wet.  Trump, however, said that the helicopter could not fly in because of the rain, and the Secret Service did not want to drive him there.  (The other world leaders who planned on attending - did attend.)

The article in The Atlantic reported that Trump said to senior staffers on the morning of the scheduled visit:  "Why should I go to that cemetery?  It's filled with losers."  The magazine article also said that in a separate conversation while on the same trip Trump had referred to more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as "suckers" for getting killed.

This morning Trump angrily denied the content of the Atlantic article - but Trump is generally not a truthful person, and The Atlantic is a reputable publication - and some of its unnamed sources for the story have confirmed their accounts with the Associated Press.

With Donald Trump's on-the-record derogatory remarks about John McCain, his openly ignoring the "bounty gate" situation, and his long history of lying, it doesn't take much of a leap to conclude that chances are good that The Atlantic's reporting is correct and that Donald Trump has been disparaging America's fallen heroes - people like John McCain, and George H.W. Bush, and 1,800 valiant marines at Belleau Wood.

Those people fought for their country.   Many of them died for their country.  

Donald Trump stayed home.