Sergeant Phillip J. Freund of the United States Army, was an American soldier and prisoner of war who fought Nazi forces in World War Two. He was captured and sent to a POW camp in Brandenburg, Prussia where he endured severe torture and forced malnourishment. Lieutenant Colonel John J. Hedlund of the United States Air Force also fought Nazi forces and was captured in 1944, and taken to a POW camp in Moosburg, Germany.
What do these men have in common? Well, other than the fact that they were both prisoners in the same conflict, they were both beloved members of my family who served their country dutifully. They are some of my greatest personal inspirations and I believe they are true heroes for their service. President Trump seems to disagree.
On July 18th, 2015, Donald Trump let his massive ego and ruthless personal rhetoric take a hold of him – as many Americans have seen throughout the last 10 years of his political presence – at a summit in Iowa. Among various talking points, the then-candidate Trump focused on his long time feud with Senator John McCain, who had been a POW in the Vietnam War. Mccain was subjected to extreme torture in one of the most infamous and brutal POW camps in the conflict, The Hỏa Lò Prison, known universally to all American prisoners as the “Hanoi Hilton”.
Trump stated “He’s not a war hero, he was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”. This insulting rebuttal rightfully disturbed many. McCain’s service was not only special for the price he paid, but also his circumstances prior. His father and grandfather were the first 4-star father and son Admirals in the United States Navy. With this legacy, this meant that McCain, who did not get drafted and instead volunteered for service, could have easily avoided service. He chose instead to put his life on the line for his country.
After he was elected President of The United States, Trump allegedly took another advantage to tarnish some of the nation’s greatest heroes, this time in 2018, near the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France. Aisne-Marne commemorates fallen soldiers and MIAs of World War One, housing 2,289 American graves. Trump was scheduled to visit the cemetery with US military officials, and canceled the visit under the pretense of rain. Reports from Trump’s own staff reveal that he reportedly made disparaging remarks regarding the fallen, referring to the dead as “suckers” and saying that the cemetery was “filled with losers”.
What makes this highly substantiated (yet officially unconfirmed allegation) have weight to it, is that Trump is reported to have used this same language to refer to other veterans. Notably, hee used the same language against Former President George H.W. Bush, who was shot down in the Pacific Ocean by Japanese forces in 1944, while flying a combat mission. Trump reportedly called Bush a “loser” for getting shot down. He also visited Arlington National Cemetery in 2017 with then-Chief of Staff, John Kelly, whose son was killed in action in 2010 during the Afghanistan War. According to Kelly, Trump remarked “I don’t get it. What was in it for them”, referring to the fallen soldiers at Arlington.
Funnily enough, Donald Trump and his family have historically avoided military service across multiple continents. His grandfather Friederich fled from Bavaria, Germany in 1885 and had not yet fulfilled his mandatory military service. After he built a successful business in New York City, Friederich wished to return to Bavaria, but because of his failure to serve or deregister from Bavaria’s draft, he was permanently banished from the then-Kingdom of Bavaria in 1905.
Donald Trump himself is also a notorious draft dodger, which was cited by mainstream media and politicians during his 2016 campaign. During the Vietnam War, Trump received 5 military deferments. From 1964-1968, Trump was given four deferments, which were regarding his education at Fordham University and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. A final deferment was given to him in September of 1968, citing bone spurs. It is important to note that in his 2019 testimony, Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, testified that Trump privately admitted to the deferment being illegitimate and untruthful, stating: “Mr. Trump claimed [his medical deferment] was because of a bone spur, but when I asked for medical records, he gave me none and said there was no surgery.”
Cohen continues, saying, “He told me not to answer the specific questions by reporters but rather offer simply the fact that he received a medical deferment.”
Most striking of all, Cohen claims that Trump finished the conversation with the following comment: “You think I’m stupid, I wasn’t going to Vietnam.”
Interesting to note is that the podiatrist who signed off on Trump’s deferment, Dr. Larry Braunstein, rented his office from Fred Trump. His two daughters allege that their father’s signing off on the deferment was a “favor” to Fred Trump.
President Trump is most certainly guilty of a disgusting, abhorrent history of name calling and disrespect directed towards our nation’s finest heroes. He is someone who not only delegitimizes the suffering and death that our nation’s soldiers endured, but someone who causes immense emotional distress for POW, MIA, and KIA families all across the United States. Families like mine.
To answer his bleak, unintelligent question of “what’s in it for them?”: freedom and peace for the world. That’s what was in it for them, President Trump.
My great-grandfather, Phillip, and my great-uncle, Jon, were just two of millions. Millions of young, brave, intelligent, and bright men who understood exactly what was in it for them. They knew they were fighting to keep their country and its people safe, and far from the reach of the Axis Powers and their conquest in the name of tyranny. While my family members did not even pay the ultimate price of laying one’s life down for their country – unlike many of their fellow soldiers – they never refused their call to service.
It is unthinkable that any individual with this history of shattering insults and anti-military attacks could ever become president of the United States, let alone twice. If America truly wants to honor our troops and their sacrifice, we the people of the United States must realize there is no bigger enemy to the armed forces than Donald Trump.