Freedom Isn’t Free

The Atlantic recently attacked President Trump over his cancelled 2018 trip to the Aisne – Marne American cemetery near Paris. It maliciously propagates the Left’s “propaganda tool”[i] through unsubstantiated derisions from anonymous sources claiming that he was worried his hair would become disheveled from rainfall and questioned whether it was necessary to visit a cemetery “filled with losers." John Bolton, former National Security Advisor and no friend of President Trump, was there. He refuted the attack when he said he “didn’t hear” Trump say the disparaging remarks. Bolton stated that the cancellation was “entirely a weather-related decision” and “proper thing to do.” In his book, Bolton noted that the helicopter ride was not possible because of weather and the “unacceptable risk” of having the U.S. President stuck in traffic while making the long drive to the site.[ii] I knew this story was “fake news“ before I read Bolton’s rebuttal because I attended The Trump Rally November 3, 2016 in Selma, North Carolina with 17,499 of my new best friends.

Trump Commitment to Military

My first in person Trump rally gave me a realization for the depth of the bond that Trump had forged with his base. Sixteen of two hundred generals and admirals and seven of twenty-two Medal of Honor recipients who endorsed Trump joined him on stage. When the Medal of Honor recipients were introduced the thundering applause confirmed that this crowd knew, “freedom isn’t free.” One of the most inspiring moments of the night occurred when one of our “bravest of the brave”, needed assistance to climb the last two steps to the stage. When another Medal of Honor hero assisted him up the final steps, the crowd of 17,500 erupted into cheers of USA, USA, USA, USA! This set the tone as Donald Trump entered the stage to deafening cheers from a crowd of whom many had been waiting for over 6 hours.

President Trump’s deep respect, admiration and true reverence for our military resonated through his first words on stage- “Very brave people back there. I stand tonight among true heroes. So much braver than me. I’m brave financially but that is no big deal.” He then committed his solemn duty if honored by being elected to:

• Give all men and women who serve in the military the supplies, equipment, medical care and resources they need to get the job done.
• Authorize full and proper funding for all branches of the military.
• Give best medical care for veterans including private care for veterans not getting treatment they need.
• Only engage military when vital interests of US are at stake.
• Ensure allies pay their fair share of our military support.
• Support military families for education, housing and jobs.
• Defeat radical Islamic terrorism. Destroy ISIS.
• Focus on keeping America safe.

Commitments Kept

President Trump has honored those commitments by investing in our military to ensure our forces are able to defend against any and all threats.

Rebuilding Our Nation’s Defense

• President Trump authorized $738 billion in defense spending in the National Defense Authorization Act.
• “President Trump signed a 3.1% pay raise for our troops, the largest in a decade.”

Focus on Keeping America Safe

• The President signed legislation establishing a new branch of the Armed Forces, the United Space Force Command, which was relaunched in August 2019.
• “The President is modernizing… our nuclear forces and missile defense to insure they continue as a strong deterrent.”
• “The President upgraded our cyber defenses by elevating the Cyber Command into a major warfighting command.”

Defeating Radical Islamic Terrorism, Destroy ISIS

•  The US military defeated radical Islamic terrorism & destroyed ISIS.

• “ISIS territorial caliphate has been defeated and all territory recaptured in Iraq and Syria”.
• “The United States brought Abu Bakr al-Baghadi, the founder of ISIS, to justice.”[iii]

Allies to Pay Fair Share

In a clear message to Russia, allies committed in January to increase military commitment by $100 billion over two years.[iv]

Honoring our Veterans                     

• “President Trump signed the VA Mission Act increasing choice and providing quality care for veterans, while allowing veterans to get urgent local care in their communities.”    
• “President Trump brought accountability to VA.”

• “The President signed the Veteran’s Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act; insuring VA employees are held responsible for poor performance.”

•  “The President’s signing of the Veteran’s Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act expedited the veteran appeals process.”
• “President Trump opened a 24 /7 White House VA Hotline to give veterans access to help at all times.”
• The President signed the Prevents Initiative which created a task force to develop a program to address the horrible tragedy of veteran suicide, while signing an executive order to improve veteran suicide prevention.[v]
• “The Harry W. Colmery Educational Assistance Act of 2017 eliminated the 15 year use it or lose it constraint associated with the post 9/11 GI bill education benefit.”[vi]

The Atlantic - Left Wing, Fraudulent, Democrat Propaganda Hoax

We left inspired by soon to be President Trump as he honored our nation’s true patriots. They have never asked for a thank you, but we owe them a debt we can never repay because freedom is priceless. No rational person could remotely believe that any of those valiant heroes on that stage would compromise their sacred honor by endorsing anyone who would utter the words alleged in the Left’s fraudulent Democrat propaganda hoax The Atlantic.