Trump’s Medal of Dishonor

Over the past week, between them  Donald Trump and JD Vance have seemingly been engaged in a contest as to which of them could alienate more would be voters through their thoughtless or bizarre statements. Of the batshitery, the most shocking for one living in an area with a large military population is Trump's statement about the Presidential Medal of Freedom being "much better" than the Congressional Medal of Honor for those who have exhibited valor and courage under combat.  The episode underscore Trump's lack of empathy or awareness towards those to whom valor and patriotism actually means something.  With Trump, it's all about himself  and satiating his ego above all else. One can only hope that members of our armed forces will remember Trump's disrespect when they vote this fall.  A piece The Atlantic looks at Trump's dishonoring of those who have in many cases given everything for their country.  Here are highlights:

Former President Donald Trump sparked near universal criticism last week when he said that the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, was “much better” than the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for military valor. Trump made these comments during an event at his Bedminster, New Jersey, estate about anti-Semitism, in which he was drawing attention to the work of Miriam Adelson—the widow of his friend, the casino magnate and megadonor Sheldon Adelson—who received the Medal of Freedom from Trump in 2018. Trump’s bizarre logic was that many recipients of the Medal of Honor are in “bad shape” because of their wounds or receive the award posthumously, and that the Medal of Freedom is better because a “healthy, beautiful woman” like Miriam Adelson can receive it.

Valor awards recognize what was, likely, one of the worst days of someone’s life. This is particularly true if a person is being written up for the highest awards—the Silver Star, Navy Cross, Air Force Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, or Medal of Honor. These are not given after a mission where everything went right and everyone came home.

The process of approving these awards is arduous, and each of the services handles it a little bit differently. The Marine Corps requires a “summary of action,” a lengthy document that outlines in detail what occurred and why it merits the award. This is followed by multiple witness statements from those who saw the actions of the awardee—many a hero has gone unsung because no survivors existed to write these witness statements. Once all of this documentation is gathered, it goes into an awards packet, which then circulates through a labyrinthine bureaucracy; at every level of command, the award is either recommended for approval, downgraded, or, in some cases, upgraded.  . . . Awards boards meet only periodically, so this process can take years. Valor awards are not bestowed by fiat.

When confronted with American valor, Trump has a history of making disparaging comments, dating as far back as 2015 when he said of the late Senator John McCain, a recipient of the Silver Star, that he “was only a war hero because he was captured,” adding, “I like people who weren’t captured, okay?” Perhaps Trump thinks the Medal of Freedom is “better” because he, as the president, can award it to whomever he pleases, including friends and donors. The Medal of Honor affords him no such discretion. Also, it seems beyond his comprehension that an award could simply lead to another chapter of service and not become an accolade used for simple personal advantage.

During Trump’s presidency, he presided over 12 presentations of the Medal of Honor. If he wins the White House in November, he’ll likely preside over more. I doubt anyone will be saying at any future White House presentation that an award wasn’t deserved. But they might say, instead, that the man presenting it doesn’t deserve the honor of performing the task.