Posted on 03/28/2016 7:40:10 AM PDT by 20yearsofinternet
The centerpiece of the commission's effort is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a glass-block wall, 70 feet long and 16 feet high, which is etched with excerpts from 83 letters - including Sergeant Calamia's - that were written by or to the soldiers who served in America's most unpopular war.
''It's not just brick and mortar,'' said Donald Trump, the real-estate executive who donated $1 million of the $2.5 million raised by the commission, which is also charged with financing programs for unemployed local veterans. ''It's very much a living monument.''
''I was a very strong opponent of the Vietnam War,'' he said, ''but I also recognized that the people who went to fight were great Americans. I always thought they got a bad shake in life and never got their just recognition.''
Last night these veterans basked in that new-found recognition. ''We answered the call of our country, and when we came back home we were kicked back into society almost like criminals,'' said Bob Moore of West Volusia, Fla., a member of the Air Force security police in Vietnam from 1967 to 1969. ''A phenomenal change has happened over the last few years. You got a whole bunch of people here coming out of the closet, so to speak.''
''To see a city take it upon itself to do this!'' said Mike Milne of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., who has been confined to a wheelchair since his Army tour in Vietnam and Cambodia. ''And in downtown Manhattan. It's unreal. They really pulled a coup.''
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Also, highlights that Trump has 30+ years of anti-nation building sentiment. Kind of mitigates the risk that we'd be in for a renamed version of the neocon Bush Doctrine 2.0 if he were elected.
If Trump is elected, what’s going to happen to all those fat military contracts to foreign countries? Imagine the loss in commissions!
“I’ve been so lucky in terms of that whole world. It is a dangerous world out there — it’s scary, like Vietnam. Sort of like the Vietnam era. It is my personal Vietnam. I feel like a great and very brave solider,”
Appearing on the Howard Stern show in 1997, GOP front-runner Donald Trump was asked about his relationships and dating habits. Trump told Stern that because of sexually-transmitted diseases, his dating life was dangerous, comparing his dating and sexual exploits to fighting in the Vietnam War.
On point, thanx. Not.
“Thought I’d share this, since I’ve seen a few sling around the accusation that Trump’s appreciation for vets is just window dressing.”
I just wish Trump had not attacked John McCain’s service in Vietnam after Trump got mad at him for something else.
As a Veteran I find it highly offensive and indicative of just out of touch Trump is.
“I just wish Trump had not attacked John McCain’s service in Vietnam after Trump got mad at him for something else.”
It’s what Trump does. Wait until he’s got the ATF, FBI and IRS working for him.
“If Trump is elected, what’s going to happen to all those fat military contracts to foreign countries?”
The fat contracts will be going to friends of Trump, especially New York companies in the construction and waste management business.
There is a lot of evidence that John McCain was no hero, but a traitor to his countrymen and servicemen. He told secrets to get favor.
I regret he had to be in prisoner of war prison, I will forgive his traitorous work with the enemy but I will not call him a hero.
I’m a vet too - and I think it says nothing about anything.
There are a number of stories like this floating around that show Trump’s character from a time well before he was running for office.
I have talked to a couple of pilots who were POW’s in North Vietnam. Both said that under sustained torture all the POWs that lived and returned “broke.”
I can only imagine what our airmen went through during their years of captivity and deprivations.
It is good to know there are men like you who would never buckle to torture, no matter how severe. Now if we can just get you to resist Trump's propaganda broadcasts.
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