To the Editor:
Now that the elections are over, I can respond to the letter by Greg Hernandez (Oct. 9) concerning Donald
Trump and the U.S. military.
Like you, I served in the Armed Forces — as did all my brothers, grandson and nephew, not to mention my
father, who was the commander of the combat engineers who built the bridges for MacArthur in the
Philippines, and his grandfather who fought in the Civil War, as did his great uncle, who died in the
aftermath of Vicksburg. The Feemans have fought and died to preserve your right to choose your
government. I did not serve in a combat role, being a medical officer in the USAF, but two brothers of
mine did serve in Vietnam.
My question to you is why any veteran should praise Trump. He ducked his duty to serve during the Vietnam
war, making up an excuse about non-existent heel spurs, and he hugs our flag to show his patriotism? All
veterans know that we support our allies, especially when those allies die to support our causes. Trump
deserted the Kurds, who fought ISIS, so that we did not have to fight ISIS in our own backyard. True,
the Kurds were also fighting to maintain their homeland, but they still died in their thousands, to
support us.
Trump also held back military aid (illegally) to the Ukrainians in order to further his own interests —
aid the Ukrainians desperately needed to hold off invading Russians. Hernandez, you only have to go back
about 100 years to see the results of such folly. Putin is reprising the role of Hitler in modern times
and Trump’s actions embolden Putin.
Hernandez, you have every right to choose a president, but Trump? Do you really want a mob-boss mentality
in the White House?
Our founding fathers anticipated our current political situation. The Federalists wanted a strong
president and the Republicans wanted a strong Congress, but they were willing to compromise, with the
proviso that a President who abused his power could be removed by the impeachment process. This
prevented the assumption of absolute power by a president who was out of control and scuttling our
republic. If you served in Vietnam to enable the ruin of our republic, then that is sad, but it is still
your choice. It is not my choice.
W.E.Feeman Jr., MD
Bowling Green