Veterans, it’s time to choose
To the Editor:
Abroad, the Trump Administration defies international laws, violates the United Nations Charter (that the U.S. helped develop) and threatens world peace by recklessly initiating wars with sovereign nations that pose no imminent threat to the United States or our allies.
Here at home we’re watching a police state evolve right before our eyes as peaceful citizens are shot dead on the streets of their own cities by well-armed masked thugs masquerading as an authentic police force. Trump’s aim, both at home and abroad, seems abundantly clear: seize power and end our democratic experiment — perversely, on the 250th anniversary of its birth.
I’m disheartened by the direction our country has elected, the surrendering of our moral compass characterized by the veteran community’s response — an unforeseen but most deafening silence. For a decade, the dominant feature of human existence in the United States has been navigating the ever-thickening fog of uncertainty.
I vividly recall a time in America when people caught lying were routinely and universally expected to exhibit both remorse and a sense of shame. Woodsheds were built specifically for that purpose. Trump has transformed that axiom by establishing lying as standard operating procedure and utter bullshit as the modern-day equivalent to statesmanship.
I served 20 years active duty (Navy) under six presidents, another 10 years in the Fleet Reserve (subject to recall) under two more (Eisenhower to George H.W. Bush), all eight former Army or Naval officers.
Related Items
Trump’s Easter words were horrid
Congress should censure Trump
Wars are justified but still obscene
The endgame was always just to blow things up
None of these eight presidents claimed to be perfect — but neither would any one of them have incited an armed, angry mob to attack our own Capitol and kill its defenders to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. This president (a convicted felon who considers himself above all laws) did exactly that, and then pardoned over 1,500 men and women who helped him commit that crime.
I thought the vengeance campaign by the Trump-Hegseth duo against the decorated retired Navy combat veteran and former astronaut (Capt. Mark Kelly), now a U.S. senator, would bring the veteran community to its senses. I was wrong.
Such an attack on a distinguished veteran (clearly an abuse of military law and First Amendment rights) ordinarily would be considered nonsensical bordering on moronic were it not recognizable both Congress and the Supreme Court are corrupted to the point that unbiased, fair outcomes are no longer assured.
I have hoped the veteran community would take the lead in seeking the truth amidst this administration’s lying, often racist, anti-democratic, anti-constitutional, pro-crime behavior, and shepherd our nation out of difficult times, defending the time-honored institutions and values Americans have been taught to respect since childhood.
I appeal to my fellow veterans, compatriots in the American Legion, VFW, AMVETS, DAV, TREA, the NCVA (ALL Veterans): honor our oath, dignify what our uniforms symbolize, choose to remain silent no longer. Stand up and speak firmly for right to prevail over wrong. The world is watching and history is recording. Fellow veterans: the future is ours to determine.
David L. Snell
Franklin
