Memorial Day Is Not for Cowards Who Exploit the Dead



Memorial Day should be a day of reverence. It should be a day when the country pauses to remember the Americans who gave everything in service to this nation. It should not be a day for political theater, empty patriotism, or photo opportunities from people who have shown contempt for the very sacrifice they claim to honor.

That is why I cannot look at Donald Trump’s record and pretend it is normal.

Trump received five deferments during Vietnam. He has been credibly reported to have called American war dead “suckers” and “losers,” an account later backed by retired Marine General John Kelly, a Gold Star father. Again and again, Trump has treated military service not as a solemn duty, but as a prop — something to praise when it benefits him and demean when it does not.

That contempt matters. Words matter. Character matters. A president who mocks sacrifice, belittles service, and treats the armed forces as an extension of his ego is not honoring the fallen. He is exploiting them.

Pete Hegseth’s role in this is just as disturbing. Under Trump and Hegseth, the military has seen the removal of barrier-breaking leaders, attacks on diversity, hostility toward transgender service members, and a push to narrow the meaning of who belongs in uniform. That is not strength. It is political cleansing dressed up as patriotism.

The military should belong to the country, not to one man, one party, or one narrow religious and cultural vision. The people who serve come from every background, every race, every faith, every region, and every walk of life. That is not a weakness. It is one of America’s greatest strengths.

Memorial Day is for the dead. It is for the families who never got their loved ones back. It is for the names carved into stone, the folded flags, the empty chairs, and the grief that never fully leaves.

It is not for cowards who avoided sacrifice and then insulted those who made it.

The fallen deserve better than Donald Trump. They deserve better than Pete Hegseth. And they deserve a country honest enough to say so.

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