To the Editor:
Recently there has been widespread publicity and controversy over accusations — which he denies — that Donald Trump has denigrated members of our Armed forces as “losers” and “suckers.”
This brought back to our TV screens replays of Trump’s vile remarks about John McCain several years ago. “McCain wasn’t a war hero,” Trump said. “He was a hero because he was captured. I prefer people who weren’t captured. “
In 1942, my late wife’s uncle became a war prisoner. He was among the outnumbered and exhausted American soldiers who finally surrendered to the Japanese after the stubborn but hopeless battle on Bataan, in the Philippines.
Mary’s uncle survived captivity, emerging with an emaciated body and severely depleted health. A great many of his fellow soldiers did not survive. Thousands died on the infamous Bataan Death March and in the brutal and inhumane conditions of the Japanese prison camps.
When you hear the voice of Trump, sneering with contempt at McCain for being captured, you can well suspect that he may be a man who would look upon the American soldiers of Bataan as “losers.”
R.E.L. Knight
West Tisbury
