Earlier this week, Donald Trump remarked that he’d “always wanted a Purple Heart.”
Before yesterday, 99% of the people in my life had no idea that I had been awarded a Purple Heart. That’s because it’s a reminder of a very bad day. You see, on Aug. 19, 2004, when I was awarded a Purple Heart, that same day one of my brothers lost half his arm and was awarded a Purple Heart; another brother who lost an eye that day was awarded a Purple Heart. And my brother who was killed that day, he was awarded a Purple Heart, too.
No one with a Purple Heart ever wanted it. A Purple Heart is a reminder of a bad day, and Donald Trump just doesn’t understand that.
I posted a video on Facebook about it and have been humbled by the response it’s gotten. I wanted to share it with you, too.
These comments come right on the heels of Trump’s outrageous attacks on Gold Star parents Khizr and Ghazala Khan, whose son Capt. Humayun Khan died serving in Iraq.
These attacks and his juvenile comments about the Purple Heart are only new chapters in Donald Trump’s long-running history of disregard for veterans and military families. Whether it’s advocating for the privatization of the VA, calling for the end to the GI Bill or his constant banging the drum for more war that would send more working-class men and women into combat, he’s shown he doesn’t care about anything—only himself.
If you’re as disgusted as I am about Trump’s attacks on veterans and military families, then share this video with your friends now!
In Solidarity,
Will
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Will Fischer
Executive Director, Union Veterans Council, AFL-CIO