Dear Editor,
Just like Donald J. Trump, my Father’s brother was clipped in the ear by a Japanese sniper during WWII. Miracles are all around us with the known and unknown, and some make good with those miracles and some don’t, and Trump didn’t. He said his brush with death made him a changed man.
He said he was going to play nice and reunite the country. But instead, he went right back to his hate rhetoric and divisiveness. Just another promise of his that hit the dust. Like the “Big Beautiful Wall” he said he would build when all he did in the four years he was in office was build a wall only 50 miles long.
And Mexico didn’t pay for it, we did. In all the infrastructure he promised to get done because in his work “I’m the greatest builder of them all!” But he didn’t repair, fix, or build a damn thing. Or return promised jobs to factory workers, saying, “ I know the art of the deal!” (The book he didn’t write but took credit for.)
Not one job came back until he was out of office. And the list goes on with promises made and not kept. But we always believe him in the moment because Donald is just that kind of guy. He knows how to work a crowd.
Like he did when he raised his fist high in the air and shouted “Fight, fight!” And the crowd did just what he wanted them to do; They spun around and gave the middle finger to the cameras. One news commentator went so far as to say “After what Trump went through no one should make fun of him for being a draft dodger.” Seriously?
First of all there’s nothing funny about being a draft dodger whether you had a good reason or not for dodging it. But moreover, there’s no comparison to what happened to Donald to what our Vietnam soldiers went through.
I had friends who came home in body bags. One shot down in a helicopter never to be seen again. What they had to exclude putting their lives on the line in hell holes breathing in agent orange and god knows what else day after day, month after month seeing horrors that Trump could never imagine in his worst nightmares. It’s unthinkable to compare him to a Vietnam soldier.
This is, just once again, demeaning the heroism and courage it takes for our young men to go off to war not knowing if they’ll make it back. It’s disheartening to see Trump elevated to their level of bravery.
This just adds to the discouraging remarks Trump made about our war heroes who fought Hitler and fascism calling them “suckers and losers” and asked the question while standing in a cemetery with fallen war heroes “What was in it for them?” and said it in front of a father who’s son laid buried there.
He even has despaired gold star survivors and families when he said “The gold star medal isn’t that great because you either have to be all shot up or dead to receive one.” This is how clueless he is with the true meaning of love of country and democracy, unlike our veterans and war heroes, Donald is just a “showman” and nothing else.
Just going through the motions to look like he’s patriotic like he did recently while at the Arlington National Cemetery. He created his usual chaos when his aids tired through the Arlington military guard to take photo ops and a fight broke out.
But then again Donald, as always, thinks he’s above all rules and regulations … even on hallowed grounds. For all the drama that has evolved around Trump what happened on July 13 was so wrong on a multitude of levels. Political violence is never acceptable not just for candidates but the citizens too that support them.
When violence is incited and encouraged it will come back to pass. So, we had seen on January 6. It will always happen in some way or form. How many times did we hear Donald say to his supporters “Knock the crap out of them and I’ll pay for your attorney”.
One even went so far to beating on an elder man in the head with a hammer that nearly took his life, as well as many other violent consequences that lay at Donald’s feet. Violence begets violence, but Donald always rises above it even with the injuries and deaths and imprisonment of others.
He uses the drama and chaos he creates as an opportunity to generate more money and wealth. Just as he is doing now; selling pieces of the suite he wore at the rally for a thousand plus a pop.
He is a master opportunist that shows no shame in how he makes a buck. And don’t hold your breath that he’ll be sharing any of the money with those who were injured or lost their life that day.
The point in this; There will always be drama and broken promises with Trump. And however, he or others want to spin his brush with death it has nothing to do with him dodging the draft or having the same courage as our Vietnam soldiers.
When all it is is disrespectfully comparing apples to oranges. Let us keep the love and honor and memories of those who did have the courage to serve in Vietnam out of Trump’s self-serving life. They deserve for better than that.
J.M.
