Military families to Trump: Apologize for comments to Khans

[webfact]

Military families to Trump: Apologize for comments to Khans

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT and SEANNA ADCOX

Their sons were killed in Iraq about a week apart.

So when Karen Meredith heard the grieving parents of a decorated Muslim Army officer being belittled by Donald Trump, she cried.

Meredith said she hadn't wept over her son's death for a long time, but the Republican presidential nominee "ripped the wounds right open again."

"You don't attack one Gold Star family, because if you do, you're attacking a lot of us," Meredith, 62, of Mountain View, California, said Monday.

Trump has been engaged in an emotionally charged feud with Khizr and Ghazala Khan, whose son, Capt. Humayun Khan, was killed in Iraq by a suicide bomber on June 8, 2004. Trump stoked outrage by implying that Ghazala Khan did not speak while standing alongside her husband at last week's Democratic convention because of their Muslim faith. And he disputed their right to question his grasp of the Constitution.

Some of America's Gold Star families, or those who lost loved ones in war, have demanded that Trump apologize.

Meredith organized a letter to Trump that has been signed by 23 families so far. She said she did so after seeing so much "hurt and anger" among Gold Star families on social media.

Trump refused to back down Monday, complaining anew that he has been "viciously attacked" by the Khans.

Meredith's son and only child, Army 1st Lt. Kenneth Michael Ballard, was killed during a firefight in Iraq on May 30, 2004, at age 26.

"Most people in this country, before this, did not know what a Gold Star family was, let alone what our sacrifice was," Meredith said. "For him to attack a Gold Star family and not understand the grief that Mrs. Khan was going through and why she wouldn't have spoken, just validated my feelings toward Mr. Trump as an unfeeling, empty person."

The letter was released publicly on Monday by VoteVets.org, a left-leaning group dedicated to electing liberal veterans to Congress. Meredith is a Democrat but said this is a nonpartisan issue.

Celeste Zappala, who also signed the letter, said the grief that Gold Star families suffer earns them the right to say whatever they want. Zappala's son, Army Sgt. Sherwood R. Baker, was also killed in Iraq in 2004. She said she cried after hearing Trump's comments, too.

"Mr. Trump has made a firestorm happen that didn't need to happen and that insults everybody who served," said Zappala, of Philadelphia. "Nobody should say anything other than 'Thank you for your service.'"

Both Zappala and Meredith stressed that they aren't speaking on behalf of all Gold Star families, and that there are others who back Trump.

Ryan Manion Borek, a Republican from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, said she is happy the Khans got to share their son's story and hopes the backlash prompts both candidates to address Gold Star issues. Her brother, Marine 1st Lt. Travis Manion, was killed in Iraq in 2007.

Gold Star families represent such a small fraction of the population, "it's super important that the people making the decision to send men and women off to war understand what that means," said Borek, who hasn't decided which candidate she will vote for.

Prominent Republicans spoke out Monday against Trump. Arizona Sen. John McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam, said that while the party has bestowed upon Trump the nomination, "it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us."

The Veterans of Foreign Wars said it won't tolerate anyone berating a Gold Star family member for exercising his or her right to free speech.

President Barack Obama addressed the Disabled American Veterans' annual conference in Atlanta on Monday. He didn't mention Trump by name but implicitly rebuked him for criticizing the Khan family.

"No one — no one has given more for our freedom and our security than our Gold Star families," Obama said. "They continue to inspire us every day, every moment."

Ami Neiberger-Miller, of Purcellville, Virginia, knows the Khans because her brother is buried near their son at Arlington National Cemetery. Army Spc. Christopher Neiberger was killed in Iraq in 2007.

She said she emailed the Khans after the Democratic National Convention speech, telling them how brave they were. As for Trump's response, Neiberger-Miller said she found it "very disturbing and distasteful."

"The comments about Mrs. Khan because she didn't speak on stage, that seemed very cruel," she said. "I actually saw her standing there as a kind of strength. As a bereaved parent, that might be what she could do that day."

Neiberger-Miller said the one positive thing to come out of this may be that Americans are learning more about Gold Star families.

"We're the families who really live with the price of war, who live with the price of service and honor and duty to country, and all of the things that go with it," she said. "There is a sense of disconnect at times between us and the rest of the country."

____

Associated Press radio correspondent Julie Walker in New York and White House reporter Josh Lederman contributed to this report. McDermott reported from Providence, Rhode Island. Adcox reported from Columbia, South Carolina.

-- AP 2016-08-02

[ClutchClark]

No defense for Trumps statement to Mrs Khan but the mother in this article is now using her son's death as a platform to espouse her own political views against Trump.

 

[Ulysses G.]

These people attacked Trump and he attacked back.  It is not exactly a shocker. 

[tx22cb]

Trump says that he has made "tremendous sacrifices for the country too", so that's OK

[ClutchClark]

1 minute ago, tx22cb said:

Trump says that he has made "tremendous sacrifices for the country too", so that's OK

I would prefer we have a draft in the US so all Americans serve their country but the problem with that is parents like Hillary will most certsinly pull strings to get their children a safe assignment away from harms way.

[ilostmypassword]

7 minutes ago, ClutchClark said:

I would prefer we have a draft in the US so all Americans serve their country but the problem with that is parents like Hillary will most certsinly pull strings to get their children a safe assignment away from harms way.

I like the way you gratuitously dragged Hillary into this.  Can't you think of any actual examples closer to home? What about that son of a very wealthy developer from New York City  who was by all accounts an excellent athlete yet somehow managed to avoid the draft on account of bone spurs?  Any thoughts on that?

[Usernames]

Knew this was an AP article as soon as I saw the headline.  As Wikileaks proves, a topic which, btw, the media and TVF have buried in favor of running multiple topics on the Khans, the media is colluding with the DNC and the Clinton campaign to hide facts and advance Clinton interests.

[Usernames]

The letter was released publicly on Monday by VoteVets.org, a left-leaning group dedicated to electing liberal veterans to Congress. Meredith is a Democrat but said this is a nonpartisan issue.

 

Now, let's see the story from the families of the killed on the other side.  Oops, there will not be one, because, as Wikileaks proved, there is a coordinated campaign and collusion between the mainstream press and the DNC and Clinton.

[mtls2005]

32 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

I like the way you gratuitously dragged Hillary into this.  Can't you think of any actual examples closer to home? What about that son of a very wealthy developer from New York City  who was by all accounts an excellent athlete yet somehow managed to avoid the draft on account of bone spurs?  Any thoughts on that?

The Donald was able to avoid the draft because of foot problems; he can't seem to remember which foot though. Suspect it was the one he was putting in his mouth from an early age.

He's a narcissistic thin-skinned sociopath who says the first thing that pops in to his yuge head. Then he doubles and triples-down, telling more lies. What a buffoon.

[mtls2005]

Donald Trump Tries to Move Past Flare-Up With Khizr Khan, Ghazala Khan

COLUMBUS, Ohio—At his first campaign rally since a public spat erupted with the parents of a Muslim U.S. Army captain killed in Iraq, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump sought to change the subject to economic issues and concerns he has about the course of the general election.

At his rally here, Mr. Trump didn’t mention the parents of Capt. Humayun Khan, whose speech last week at the Democratic convention touched off his campaign’s latest controversy. Instead, Mr. Trump said he was “afraid the election is going to be rigged,” echoing complaints he made during the Republican primaries despite his series of victories.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/john-mccain-denounces-donald-trumps-comments-on-khizr-khan-1470062035

"Rigged" election, this should appeal to the Infowars crowd.

[ClutchClark]

1 hour ago, ilostmypassword said:

I like the way you gratuitously dragged Hillary into this.  Can't you think of any actual examples closer to home? What about that son of a very wealthy developer from New York City  who was by all accounts an excellent athlete yet somehow managed to avoid the draft on account of bone spurs?  Any thoughts on that?

Close to home?

they are all from the same neighborhood and very far from where I gew up.

poor boy, you see thibgs in colors Blue & Red.

I do not.

They are all part of the same problem in my book. You won't find me turning a blind eye to Trump antics--only getting a real chuckle on the Dems need to see their leaders as religious dieties and incapable of wrong doing.

[Pimay1]

Here is another point of view from Ray Starmann in an open letter to Mr. Khan.

Ray Starmann is the founder of US Defense Watch. He is a former U.S. Army Intelligence officer and veteran of the Gulf War, where he served with the 4th Squadron, 7th Cavalry, 3rd Armored Division “Spearhead!” Mr. Starmann was a contributing writer for several years at SFTT.org, founded by the late Colonel David Hackworth.

http://usdefensewatch.com/2016/07/an-open-letter-to-mr-khizr-khan/

 

[Boon Mee]

7 minutes ago, Pimay1 said:

Here is another point of view from Ray Starmann in an open letter to Mr. Khan.

Ray Starmann is the founder of US Defense Watch. He is a former U.S. Army Intelligence officer and veteran of the Gulf War, where he served with the 4th Squadron, 7th Cavalry, 3rd Armored Division “Spearhead!” Mr. Starmann was a contributing writer for several years at SFTT.org, founded by the late Colonel David Hackworth.

http://usdefensewatch.com/2016/07/an-open-letter-to-mr-khizr-khan/

 

The money quote from Ray Starmann's letter:

"To adopt any other course but Mr. Trump’s would be a cause for further endangering the lives of Americans every day. That, sir, is unacceptable."

Indeed...

[Scott]

Off-topic post removed. 

[freebyrd]

3 hours ago, ClutchClark said:

No defense for Trumps statement to Mrs Khan but the mother in this article is now using her son's death as a platform to espouse her own political views against Trump.

 

Your country, 'ther greatest on earth', is the land of the free, so why can't she have her say?

[MZurf]

4 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

These people attacked Trump and he attacked back.  It is not exactly a shocker. 

 

No, it's not. We all know there is no bottom where the Donald dwells.

[MZurf]

2 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

The money quote from Ray Starmann's letter:

"To adopt any other course but Mr. Trump’s would be a cause for further endangering the lives of Americans every day. That, sir, is unacceptable."

Indeed...

And here is General John Allen (retired Marine Corps four star):

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/ret-gen-john-allen-donald-trump-credibility/story?id=41021091

[stevenl]

2 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

The money quote from Ray Starmann's letter:

"To adopt any other course but Mr. Trump’s would be a cause for further endangering the lives of Americans every day. That, sir, is unacceptable."

Indeed...

Policies are not the issue here.

It is his lack of respect for others, and his general attitude.

[ClutchClark]

26 minutes ago, freebyrd said:

Your country, 'ther greatest on earth', is the land of the free, so why can't she have her say?

Straw argument.

I never once suggested this other mother of a fallen soldier cannot have her say.

She most certainly has a right to her say; however, she does not have a right to politicize her son's death and then waive the greiving mother card in order to avoid others exercising their right to respond.

 

 

[smotherb]

4 hours ago, ClutchClark said:

I would prefer we have a draft in the US so all Americans serve their country but the problem with that is parents like Hillary will most certsinly pull strings to get their children a safe assignment away from harms way.

Your biass is showing Clark--you think parents like Trump or Bush would not pull strings? HW did already, he got W into the Texas NG so Texas would be safe from Vietnamese invasion.

[ClutchClark]

4 minutes ago, smotherb said:

Your biass is showing Clark--you think parents like Trump or Bush would not pull strings? HW did already, he got W into the Texas NG so Texas would be safe from Vietnamese invasion.

I actually said exactly the opposite of what you accuse me of.

You have created another strawman argument completely out of thin air.

 

Edited August 2, 2016 by ClutchClark

[freebyrd]

14 minutes ago, ClutchClark said:

Straw argument.

I never once suggested this other mother of a fallen soldier cannot have her say.

She most certainly has a right to her say; however, she does not have a right to politicize her son's death and then waive the greiving mother card in order to avoid others exercising their right to respond.

 

 

Straw argument or not, after all the BS that Trump has spouted this past year, let someone else have their say. How many 'cards' has he played? He's a user of people and is well on the way to being the next despot.

[smotherb]

4 minutes ago, ClutchClark said:

I actually said exactly the opposite of what you accuse me of.

You have created another strawman argument completely out of thin air.

 

I have not accused you of anything; I asked you a question. Your statement that you, " . . . said exactly the opposite . . ." is patently incorrect. Do you not understand the difference?

By assigning your accusation to only Hillary and not Trump; you have denigrated her and somehow allowed him to escape the same criticism. Strawman, you say; seems to fit your statements.

 

 

[ClutchClark]

19 minutes ago, freebyrd said:

Straw argument or not, after all the BS that Trump has spouted this past year, let someone else have their say. How many 'cards' has he played? He's a user of people and is well on the way to being the next despot.

And every time he has played a card or made a statement it has been capitalized on by the opposition.

[Pinot]

10 minutes ago, smotherb said:

I have not accused you of anything; I asked you a question. Your statement that you, " . . . said exactly the opposite . . ." is patently incorrect. Do you not understand the difference?

 

By assigning your accusation to only Hillary and not Trump; you have denigrated her and somehow allowed him to escape the same criticism. Strawman, you say; seems to fit your statements.

 

 

 

CC seems to be from the Trump School for the Thin Skinned.

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for Trump to apologize. Not in his nature. It shows weakness. Never apologize, double down and say something worse, then tell everyone you didn't say that.  

[ClutchClark]

11 minutes ago, smotherb said:

I have not accused you of anything; I asked you a question. Your statement that you, " . . . said exactly the opposite . . ." is patently incorrect. Do you not understand the difference?

 

By assigning your accusation to only Hillary and not Trump; you have denigrated her and somehow allowed him to escape the same criticism. Strawman, you say; seems to fit your statements.

 

 

 

What a ridiculous argument you have offered.

Debate what I have said or get lost.

and if you are going to debate what I have said then read what I have said and argume what I have said and not what I have never said.

 

 

[Pinot]

4 hours ago, Usernames said:

 

 

 

Now, let's see the story from the families of the killed on the other side.  Oops, there will not be one, because, as Wikileaks proved, there is a coordinated campaign and collusion between the mainstream press and the DNC and Clinton.

Yeah, they're all out to get YOU! Silly conspiracy nonsense. The usual right wing blather. 

[ClutchClark]

Just now, Pinot said:

CC seems to be from the Trump School for the Thin Skinned.

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for Trump to apologize. Not in his nature. It shows weakness. Never apologize, double down and say something worse, then tell everyone you didn't say that.  

Too funny.

You guys team up like motorbike taxi drivers.

one of you makes a completely false accusation and then the rest of you attack me personally for stating I never even said what I was accused of.

You guys are a joke.

And not even a very good joke.

[Usernames]

12 minutes ago, Pinot said:

Yeah, they're all out to get YOU! Silly conspiracy nonsense. The usual right wing blather. 

 

Hysteria. Hyperbole. Irrelevant.

[MZurf]

13 minutes ago, ClutchClark said:

Too funny.

You guys team up like motorbike taxi drivers.

one of you makes a completely false accusation and then the rest of you attack me personally for stating I never even said what I was accused of.

You guys are a joke.

And not even a very good joke.

No. What IS a joke is that you mention (only) Hillary's name in connection with theoretical draft dodging when Trump is a known draft dodger. THAT is a joke!