Trump never had much use for heroes.
He called American war dead “losers” and “suckers” (details here). He said Sen. John McCain, who was tortured as a POW, wasn’t a hero because he was captured; and he objected to wounded veterans being brought to public events because “no one wants to see that” (see story here).
While campaigning in New Jersey on Thursday, August 15, 2024, he told a rally crowd that the Presidential Medal of Freedom he gave to GOP megadonor Miriam Adelson (photo, left) is “much better” than the Congressional Medal of Honor, because soldiers who get the MOH are either dead or “in very bad shape” from getting hit by bullets (see story here, and watch video here).
Where did Trump’s disdain for America’s military personnel and veterans come from? I have a theory. When he was 13 years old, his father shipped him off to a military school, to straighten him out after his “misbehavior—fighting, bullying, arguing with teachers—had gone too far” (see story here).
Trump speaks “fondly” of his time there; but let’s face it, his only personal experience with military service was five years in a military-themed reform school. Is it any wonder he dodged the draft, and to this day despises those who served?