[rjsimmon]

It is not the responsibility of the sitting President to call the families of those lost in combat. Whether they be Republican or Democrat. It is the responsibility of the unit commander.

[DIRTYSECRET]

Fine. Who started this crap?

[dp0622]

Knowing obummer, he probably called the parents of a few ISIS members after they got killed.

[linear]

Agreed. This conversation is loathsome.

[Rennes Templar]

If a General’s son is KIA, the POTUS should call.

[FreeReign]

It is not the responsibility of the sitting President to call the families of those lost in combat. Whether they be Republican or Democrat. It is the responsibility of the unit commander.

Of course it's the responsibility of the unit commander. But it doesn't mean that the president shouldn't pay his respects to the family with a phone call.

[Chainmail]

"It is not the responsibility of the sitting President to call the families of those lost in combat. Whether they be Republican or Democrat. It is the responsibility of the unit commander."

Probably not - but if it were your son and there were only a few lost in combat at the time, wouldn't it mean something to you if the Commander in Chief called?

By the way, unit commanders only rarely call the families of the KIA; usually they send letters. The direct contact with the families is done by the Casualty Assistance teams.

So, you think that Barack Obama was right not contacting then Major General John Kelly when his youngest son was killed in combat?

[bigbob]

As you surely know, this isn’t about “responsibility”.

Trump is proven right again.

[etcb]

Agreed. There were over 58,000 killed in Vietnam and no president could call all of those families.

While President Trump has many good qualities, one of his least admirable traits is the tendency to cast everything he does as being bigger, better, or more virtuous than anyone else.