Photo by Richard L. Gaw                   U.S. House Representative Chrissy Houlahan was joined by three other U.S. veterans at an Oct. 30 online conference in criticizing former President Donald Trump for his comments about the U.S. military.

By Richard L. Gaw, Staff Writer

In comments that were both candid and accusatory, four U.S. veterans – including U.S. House Representative Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.’s 6th district) – said last week that if former President Donald Trump’s is elected for a second term that his time in office would pose a threat to the United States and to democracy, and that his disregard for the armed forces has left a permanent scar on the nation’s military.

Joining Houlahan on an Oct. 30 online conference were U.S. House Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Massachusetts), retired U.S. Army Major General Randy Manner and Vietnam War veteran Nick Molnar, a Pennsylvania resident. Their comments came exactly six days before the Nov. 5 Presidential election between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

“We are in a very, very dangerous place in a dangerous time, where we are at the precipice of possibly reelecting a person whom I believe to be an eminent threat to the United States and to our democracy and the peace and security of the United States,” Houlahan said. “I think that his running mate is equally worrisome and equally unnerving because he is a younger and more potent version [of Trump].

“In addition, former President Trump has not done much to allay my concerns. He has talked about deploying the military in places that are literally constitutionally not allowed.”

Houlahan continued to criticize Trump for his depiction of U.S. military in terms like “suckers” and “losers” and for his criticism of long-time U.S. Senator John McCain for being held hostage during the Vietnam War.

                                                          ‘Suckers’ and ‘losers’

In July 2015, then-presidential candidate Trump said McCain -- who retired from the Navy as a captain, awarded a Silver Star and a Distinguished Flying Cross -- was only a war hero because he had been taken hostage. “He was a war hero because he was captured,” Trump said of McCain. “I like people that weren’t captured.”

Trump’s comments about McCain have been part of a litany of his critical remarks toward the U.S. military. During a scheduled trip to Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France in 2018, Trump backed out, telling senior staff members, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed.

As the daughter and granddaughter of Naval officers, “I am very concerned that here in Pennsylvania that it is very important to get out the message that this former president does not represent the values of service that I recognize in our veterans in uniform,” Houlahan said. “His possible election in the next several days would represent a real risk to our nation.”

Houlahan, the daughter of a military family, earned her engineering degree from Stanford with an ROTC scholarship that led to a career in the U.S. Air Force as an engineer and Air Force Reserves.

Trump received five draft deferments during the Vietnam War, including four education deferments while he was in college and a fifth for a diagnosis of bone spurs after graduation.

In August 2019, Trump told Moulton, who served as a marine in Iraq, “You remain a frickin’ coward” when Moulton dropped out of the race to be the next Democrat presidential candidate. Moulton was awarded a Bronze Star and a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation awards, citing his fearlessness for exposing himself to fire to help four of his fellow marines who were wounded in the Iraqi War. During one of Trump’s State of the Union speeches as president, Moulton walked out in protest of Trump, whom he called a “draft dodger.”

“There’s a fundamental lack of respect for those who put on the uniform and selflessly served for others,” Moulton said during the conference. “Those values are at stake in this election too because Donald Trump clearly doesn’t believe in them. In contrast to that, Tim Walz, who served proudly in the National Guard for over twenty years, and Kamala Harris, who has a strong record of supporting veterans in the Senate and in the White House — are people who will strengthen our community of veterans [and] ensure that we get the care that we need.”

Moulton praised the Biden-Harris administration for its passage of the PACT Act this year, legislation that expands health care and benefits for veterans who may have been exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxic substances.

“The contrast between these two candidates is incredibly stark,” he said. “It is between someone who has no business being Commander in Chief again, according to his own senior military advisors and someone who has a record of strengthening veterans and our nation. That’s the choice.”

                                                     ‘A clear and present danger’

 Manner, a retired two-star U.S. Army Major General, served as deputy commanding general of the U.S. 3rd Army in Kuwait and the deputy director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. He said that he is one of over one thousand generals, admirals, senior enlisted leaders and ambassadors who are supporting Harris and Walz. He called a Trump “a clear and present danger to the democracy that our country is based upon,” and defended retired U.S. Marine Corps general and former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, who recently said that Trump met the description of a “fascist” who seeks unchecked power as president.

Manner defined the term “fascist” in describing four similarities to Trump, as someone aligned with a far-right agenda; who calls for absolute adherence to him/her; who punishes anyone who opposes their views; and whose platform usually highlights a particular race or religion.

“In the military, we are taught to treat each other with dignity and respect as we would like to be treated,” Manner said. “We don’t call people names. We do not disparage them, and we do not lie. These are all the things that, as evidenced at every single rally that Trump has, that [solidify him as a] a purveyor of hateful speech. That is not what veterans stand behind.

“As the number two person in the National Guard Bureau, I know how easy it would be for Trump to use the National Guard as his own personal police force. This is not a far-left opinion I am speaking from truth, because I know the law and I know what is possible.”

 “Trump called us – or myself really, because I took it as a personal insult – a ‘sucker’ for being in the service for my country,” said Molnar, a U.S. Air Force and Vietnam War veteran. “He even refused to see soldiers who, in honor of their service, who were wounded. He cared more about his campaign photo op in Arlington, Virginia than he cared about the soldiers, men and women who were buried in Arlington National Cemetery, including my brother-in-law and my father, who was a Purple Heart veteran.

“The only thing we can do is vote against this fascist who wants to be President of the United States.”

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].