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Editor,

Our nation’s veterans have served and protected us. It is our responsibility to elect a President who honors, respects, and supports our Veterans.

Donald Trump has a history of disparaging the intelligence and actions of service members, both alive and dead. 

Trump lacks any understanding of patriotism, service, and sacrifice. One indication of this is his contempt for the late Senator John McCain, who was a North Vietnamese POW for 5 years. In 2015, Trump said this about Senator McCain: “He’s not a war hero; I like people who weren’t captured”.  When Senator McCain died, Trump said: “We’re not going to support that loser’s funeral” 

In 2018, Trump canceled a visit to an American WWI Cemetery near Paris. He indicated it wasn’t important to honor our war dead.  “Why should I go to that cemetery?  It’s filled with losers.” Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who died at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed.

In August of this year, Trump claimed that the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which he had awarded to one of his major campaign donors in 2018, is “better” than the Congressional Medal of Honor, because “everyone who gets the Congressional Medal, they’re soldiers.”  “They’re either in very bad shape ….or they’re dead.”

In September, ten retired top U.S. military officials endorsed Kamala Harris, saying that Trump is “a danger to our national security and democracy” and citing Trump’s comments disparaging members of the military. 

In stark contrast to Trump, Kamala Harris has consistently honored and supported our veterans.  In 2022, the Biden/Harris administration signed legislation that opened the door for VA care to some 3.5 million veterans exposed to Toxic contamination.  The legislation also triggered dental and long-term care for Veterans

I am a 20-yr Army Veteran.  I believe it is extremely important for our nation to elect a President who honors and supports our Veterans. Kamala Harris is the only candidate who meets this requirement.

 

Ken Peterson

MAJ U.S. Army (Ret.)

Buchanan