If you thought Donald Trump only started to make terribly offensive comments about American soldiers and veterans recently, you would be wrong. Not only does he lie about donations to veteran causes, but he disparages those that serve by minimizing the risk they put themselves through every day.
Just last year while speaking at an event in Cedar Rapids, Trump launched into one of his rambling stories, this time about the military and a young man who he met who shared stories with him about his two tours of duty in the Middle East. Now looking back, it is possible that the journalists covering this story assumed that Trump usually told the truth, so no one questioned the veracity of this story. Now, after writing about him almost daily for 9 months, I can say that I highly doubt this conversation ever took place, except maybe in Trump's delusional mind. But back to the *story*:
Trump claimed that this man told him that the "enemy" (he doesn't say who the enemy is) took a ton of American military equipment, including very expensive Humvees. Interesting. Well, in and of itself, not that enraging. It is war.
What he said next, though, was absolutely insane, even by Trump Standards. He said that these armored vehicles were so strong that if a bomb went off, the people inside would be totally ok and just go on a little bouncy ride and land safely, as if on a king side bed of fluffy pillows. Actually, the quote was even worse.
The full quote, as provided by Buzzfeed is as follows:
“You know I have a friend, he’s got a young son, who’s a great, great young man. He was over for two tours of duty, and I said, ‘How, how is it…’ — Middle East — ‘How is it over there?’ He said, ‘It’s so sad Mr. Trump, we have old equipment. The enemy has the good stuff.’ And I said, ‘what are you talking about?’ He said, ‘We give equipment to people that we think are on our side, a bullet’s fired in the air, they run, the enemy goes and takes the equipment.’ And I talk about it all the time — 2,300, brand-new, armored-plated humvees.
The best in the world, armor-plated, top, bottom, all over. If a bomb goes off, our wounded warriors, instead of losing their legs, their arms, worse, they’re okay. They go for a little ride upward, and they come down.The best stuff, all gone. Taken by the enemy. Taken by the enemy.
Yes, he said if they get hit by an IED, they are OK and the only go for a "little ride upward and they come down."
Twitter blew up with many combat veterans responding fast and furious, sharing their personal stories of injuries sustained in their "little rides."
Sarah Rumpf of Opinion IJR posted some excellent tweets, such as these:
Donald Trump said as long as US troop vehicles are armored, when they get hit by IEDs troops just "go for a little ride."#NoProblem
— Ben Kesling (@bkesling) February 1, 2016
J.R. Salzman (@jrsalzman) posted this on February 1, 2016
And now I regularly take "little rides" to the VA for treatment for my TBI, and to get my prosthetic arm fixed.
Salzman also said the following:
"Trump’s comment that troops in armored vehicles simply “go for a little ride” after being hit by an IED shows a complete lack of understanding of the threats faced by American troops. Thousands of troops have been killed in armored vehicles hit by IEDs, and over 1,500 of us have lost at least one limb. Those of us who were lucky took “a little ride” to Walter Reed Army Medical Center or elsewhere for treatment. The unlucky ones took “a little ride” to Arlington cemetery."
Another veteran, Johnny “Joey” Jones, was another wounded by an IED. He worked for eight years actually destroying IED's to keep troops and civilians safe. While selflessly doing that job, an IED detonated and instead of "going on a little ride upward," he lost both of his legs. He also lost his friend in the explosion. Trump's comments enraged him, as they should.
If this is true I hope he volunteers to go for a "little ride" sometime to test that theory. #disgusting https://t.co/Vfxgc0UkL7
— Johnny (Joey) Jones (@Johnny_Joey) February 1, 2016
It has been a year since Trump made these insensitive comments. He has only gotten worse, with his most recent bashing of the Gold Star family, the Khan's. This man is simply unfit to serve. He is unfit to lead our country. He is absolutely unfit to command our military.
