Tag Archives: combat veterans

military news, national news, political news

There he goes again … offending veterans

trump

Donald J. Trump once said his time as a student in a military academy was just like serving in the military.

It damn sure isn’t.

Trump also said U.S. Sen. John McCain earned his war hero status only because he was captured by the North Vietnamese, who then held him as a POW for five years.

Now comes this. He seemed to suggest that combat veterans who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder aren’t as strong as those who don’t suffer from PTSD.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-angers-with-suggestion-that-vets-with-ptsd-are-weak/ar-BBwXHeL?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp

This guy needs a reality check.

Veterans groups have listened to Trump’s remarks. They hoped Trump’s comments were “taken out of context.” They discovered that the reporting has been complete.

The vets say that PTSD victims need help and do not need to be told they are “weak or deficient,” according to The Associated Press.

My own father suffered a form of PTSD when he returned home from World War II. I wasn’t yet around, but my mother used to tell me how Dad would flinch at the sound of airplanes … which was a natural reaction for someone who had endured constant aerial bombardment while serving aboard ship in the Navy in the Mediterranean theater.

They called it “shell shock” back then. Dad got through it.

As the son of a combat veteran, well, I take great offense to the implication that the Republican presidential nominee has uttered in relation to this generation of combat vets.

entertainment news, military news, national news

Mrs. Obama defends 'Sniper'

Michelle Obama has taken a stand in support of a controversial film about a heart-wrenching subject.

Good for her.

She came to the defense this week of “American Sniper,” the film about the late Navy SEAL sharpshooter Chris Kyle, saying the film deals squarely with the emotional heartache felt by combat veterans and their families.

First lady defends ‘American Sniper’

Mrs. Obama didn’t go after some of the critics of the film directly, although she well could have done so; perhaps she should have done so. But whatever her intention, she made a salient point about the film’s theme and the emotions it has brought to those who have seen it.

She said: “I felt that, more often than not, this film touches on many of the emotions and experiences that I’ve heard firsthand from military families over these past few years.”

Indeed, she and Jill Biden, the vice president’s wife, have made the care of veterans and their families a hallmark of their tenure during the Obama administration and both of these women deserve to be applauded for the attention they have given to this important matter.

As for the criticism of the film — notably by filmmaker Michael Moore — much of it has bordered on the ridiculous. Moore, of course, referred to snipers as “cowards.” He knows nothing of which he spoke on this matter, but his comments got considerable play anyway — I suppose because of his celebrity status and his previous tangles with political conservatives over an array of other issues.

I believe the first lady has put the film in its proper perspective and that should stand as a more credible assessment of a gripping story of triumph, struggle and immense emotional heartache.