Trump’s remarks about veterans still sting (letter to the editor)

I read in a letter to the editor by Mr. Valente that he would vote for Mr. Trump.

Mr. Valente states that he is a veteran, so I thought he would care about the disparaging remarks that Mr. Trump has made about veterans — not once, but consistently — especially if you were wounded or held captive.

Just one example from a man well respected by both Democrats and Republicans and Trump’s choice for his Chief of Staff:

John Kelly said this about Trump: “A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them;’

(Trump) did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ (He is a person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family — for all Gold Star families — on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and he wouldn’t visit their graves in France.”

We do not have to believe the media or John Kelly, because Trump has said this publicly at campaign stops. In an interview, he said this about John McCain: “He’s not a war hero; he’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured, OK?”

Mr. Trump has consistently made statements demeaning veterans who are amputees. (He didn’t want them in a Memorial Day parade in D.C.) because they wouldn’t look good. This is the man Mr. Valente believes he should support for President of the U.S. and Commander and Chief of our Armed Forces?

I cannot fathom the reasoning behind Mr. Valente’s loyalty to a man who would think such things, let alone say them out loud. He states he will vote Republican. That party does not exist anymore — it is the Trump party.

(Elena R. Arena is a New Dorp resident.)