To all veterans who have served or are currently serving in the military and to the friends and families of those who serve or have served and those who have suffered loss in service, I thank you for your service and offer my condolences and extend my sympathy for your loss.
The president offered a longer expression of those sentiments in a speech this morning. A transcript of Trump’s Memorial Day Speech can be read here. time.com/… That speech is peppered with references to God, florid thanks to those who serve or have served in the military and anecdotes of heroism and loss of life in military service, which seems appropriate on Memorial Day.
Yet, Trump still irks me when he gratuitously appropriates other people’s service, grief, patriotism, loss, and heroism for his own personal political purposes — brazenly using the service and sacrifice of others to garner applause.
Recall his ‘address to the nation’ before a joint session of Congress on Feb 28th — where he shamelessly exploited the grief of Carryn Owens. widow of Navy Seal Ryan Owens — who died during a botched raid in Yemen ordered by Trump a month earlier. Using her grief as an applause line. Also recall that phantom bone spurs kept Trump from his opportunity to serve in the military and denied him the chance to be a ‘real hero’ in Vietnam. But this is a traditional speech that every president must give, so I’ll cut him some slack today.
Yeah Yeah Yeah — I know, he didn’t actually write this speech. How can I be sure — because the writer seems to know what a Gold Star Family is and I’m still not convinced that the President has figured that out just yet. But still — can someone Trumpsplain the highlighted part of his Memorial Day speech delivered at Arlington National Cemetery this morning?
"To every Gold Star family who honors us with your presence, you lost sons and daughters, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, they each had their own names, their own stories, their own beautiful dreams. But they were all angels sent to us by God," Trump said. "And they all share one title in common, and that is the title of hero. Real heroes. They were here only a brief time before God called them home. Their legacy will endure forever."
I’m now well used to the awkward often nonsensical word salad that spews from Trump’s mouth — but I have no idea what he meant by these words.
His statement that soldiers who died in service to their country are heros is unsurprising — (OK, we could debate the hero honorific when it is applied to all service deaths, the concept loses meaning when it is used like a participation trophy - but that would be disrespectful on Memorial Day — so let’s give him a pass on that).
What about the “The angels sent to us by God“ line — what was that supposed to mean?
Those who died in military service were all angels sent by God — that part baffles me.
Were they angels before they were sent into harm's way and died?
They were angels sent by God destined to fight and die for the good old USA? (God is on our side)
Did they become angels because of the way in which they died — in military service on our side?
This was probably supposed to sound noble, poetic, pious, high-minded, and heartfelt — a way of honoring those who have made the ‘ultimate sacrifice’ and acknowledging the loss that the friends and families who grieve for them suffer or have suffered — but I just do not understand what he meant by these particular words.
Maybe this part of the speech clarifies his position.
To every Gold Star family, God is with you, and your loved ones are with Him. They died in wars so that we could live in peace. I believe that God has a special place in heaven for those who laid down their lives so that others may live free from fear and this horrible oppression.
This rings a bit hollow when read by a man who shows little sign of believing in God.
(ans what horrible oppression is he referencing here / is this an opaque Christians by Muslims oppression — terrorist oppression ?)
If Trump is dog whistling here — I guess the message just isn’t pitched within my hearing range.
Anyway, this language confuses me — maybe one of you can make better sense of it for me.
Again, thanks to every veteran for your service and sacrifice.