President Trump’s destruction of the virtues of duty, honor and courage

Letter to the editor

This letter was jointly submitted to the office of Jack Bergman.

President Trump has a pattern of destroying duty, honor, and courage. In the past, he reportedly disparaged veterans in general, calling them "suckers," including Marines who died in Belleau Wood, and individually like John McCain by mocking his five years of imprisonment and torture after being shot down over North Vietnam.

If he understood duty, honor, and courage, he would work to preserve the Kennedy Center and not insist that his name be placed on the building before the $257 million allotted by Congress one year ago is used for repair. He has also said the center could be ripped down if his administration is not recognized on the site.

John Kennedy suffered a bad back injury playing college football. As WWII approached, the Navy rejected Kennedy because of his bad back. He used his father's influence to get in.

Once in the Navy, Kennedy was assigned to non-combat roles. He used his father's influence once again for reassignment to the Pacific, where he would command PT 109, an 80-foot craft made of plywood to confront the Japanese destroyers resupplying their troops.

One very dark night, PT 109 was on patrol to interdict the "Tokyo Express." Kennedy's plywood PT boat was rammed by the 388-foot steel Japanese destroyer Amagiri. One of Kennedy's crew members, Patrick McMahon, was badly burned and unable to swim. The next morning, the survivors saw an island. Kennedy clenched the strap of the disabled sailor's life jacket with his teeth and towed him for four to five hours to the island.

After President Kennedy was assassinated, Congress asked his widow, Jackie, how she would like him honored. She said, "I want a living memorial to remember my husband, and I want it to be the National Cultural Center."

The Kennedy Center represents duty to country above self-interest and courage when required. The president doesn't seem to understand these values.

What will our congressman do to prevent President Trump's attempt to erase patriotism, service, and courage from our collective experience?