28 posts from Saturday, August 31, 2024

My name is Darren Hoover, and I'm the Gold Star Father of the United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Taylor Hoover. Kamala, I want you to understand, and I know it will be difficult for you because you lack empathy and basic understanding. The events that happened on August 26, 2024 with President Trump at Arlington National Cemetery were solemn, and in keeping with the reverence and respect that is given to all members of our military that are buried there, we invited President Trump. We are the ones that asked for the video and the pictures to be taken at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This was a very solemn wreath laying in our son's name, along with the Sergeant Nicole G. Family, as well as two of our catastrophically injured military members that were there on that horrific day in the honor of our Abbey Gate 13. We then moved to the gravesite where our children are buried. Again, we asked the Trump team to take the videos, take the pictures of our time there. President Trump then laid a wreath at the grave side of Army Staff Sergeant Ryan Christian Canouse. There he talked to both his mother and father. President Trump then moved to our son's grave where we were surrounded by our family and friends, where we talked about Taylor and his sacrifice to this country. Let me be clear. There was no politics discussed, none whatsoever. There was also not an assault that we observed take place, or did we hear it? I don't know where this is coming from, but it's disgusting and gross. President Trump has been there for us from the very beginning when our son and the other 12 of his brothers and sisters in arms were murdered due to your negligence and uncaring attitude towards our military. Don't forget Kamala, you were the last one in the room. You and Joe Biden made the final decision on how to pull out of Afghanistan. You created the chaos in mayhem for the military to accomplish their goals. Our sons and daughters made the best of a difficult situation as they had been trained to do. They adapted and overcame all of that and came out as heroes, something that you will never know or understand. Kamala, we have been treated with the utmost respect, compassion, and understanding by President Trump. Something you and Joe Biden have refused to do since August 26, 2021. Where were you and Joe Biden on August 26, 2024? Nowhere near Arlington Cemetery. You couldn't be bothered to be with us or even say our kids names, just as you had done for the last three years. Neither one of you have called to speak with us or share in our grief. I wonder Kamala, do you sleep at night securely in your bed or do you have nightmares of our kids because it was your incompetence and negligence that got our kids murdered? It is you who sends out messages on social media that are outright lies. It is you that has disrespected our families. It is you who knows nothing about service and sacrifice. It is you that has divided this country and it is you who is unfit to be the commander in chief. These are the only memories we get to make with our son and it is you who is playing politics and trying to detract from our memories made that day. You should be ashamed and embarrassed that your lack of empathy and decency as a human being. You are only in this for the power and prestige. You don't care for our military or the citizens of this country. You should hang your head in shame at your actions or lack thereof. You need to move aside, get out of the way and stop hindering the progress, growth and independence of this great nation.

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My name is Coro O'Dulero. I am Corporal Humberto Sanchez' mother. This is my statement of what happened on August 26, 2024. My son is not very in Arlington. But I really feel like when President Trump wouldn't pay tribute and pay his respect in Arlington for our kids, it was not just the ones buried in there. It was for all of our kids. And it was an invitation that the families actually extend to him. And it's not the first time that he actually meet with us and share time with our families. After three years, until now, Kamala Harris and President Biden didn't even say their 13 names. They called the withdrawal of Afghanistan a success. And for us, it was just sadness and a disgrace. They are the responsible persons of murdering our kids. And until these days, they did not give us a meeting. They did not accept to meet with us and give us an explanation of what happened. I am the commander in chief. He definitely left our kids behind and just to fill the agenda of his prior commitments. I invite Kamala Harris and Joe Biden to accept the meeting with us and meet with us and explain us what was the whole deal behind the withdrawal in Afghanistan. I think that as a parent, we deserve an explanation and we deserve the truth of what happened with our kids that day.

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Vice President Harris, my name is Steve Nakui. I'm the father of Lance Corporal Karim M. Nakui. And your administration killed my son. Deliberately in exchange for political theatrics, so you could have a final day of the evacuation coincide with September 11th. Ignoring the vice of your generals, the Doha Agreement, and countless other veterans and members of Congress. Denying the safety of the Afghans and the servicemen and women. Your choice to play politics in 2021, killed 170 Afghans, 13 US service members, and wounded 45 of our diverse members, as well as countless Afghans. You were not at Dover for the dignified transfer. At no time have you reached out to me to offer your condolences, to offer thank you for Karim's sacrifice and service. Not once have you honored him by saying his name, so I said it for you. You have disparaged all 13 who have lost their lives as well as their families, exhibiting your lack of gratitude by your silence. I agree with you on one thing, that a person like you should never and will never stand behind the seal of presidency. You are a DEI Vice President. And contrary to our kids, the worst that America has to offer. I will pray for you that God has mercy on your soul.

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This is Mark Schmitz, Gold Star Father of Marine Lands Corporal Jared Schmitz. Here we are on a beautiful holiday weekend day. I've got to stop what I'm doing, spending time with what's left of my family, to address a heinous, vile and disgusting post put out by Kamala Harris. Trying to incite those that don't follow the truth that President Trump was in Arlington as a political stunt. Shows you how much you know about the 13 families. We invited him to be there. Groundwork was put into place by Congressman Issa's office to make sure we followed protocol. Why did we want Trump there? It wasn't to help his political campaign. We wanted a leader. That explains why you and Joe didn't get a call. Imagine for a second that your kid is killed. There's a president of the United States willing to take you under his wing and listen to you. That's what we found in President Trump. Certainly not you and certainly not Joe Biden. You have 13 families who have been waiting over three years to so much as get a phone call. To so much as hear our kids' names said aloud in the halls of Congress that a State of the Union, hell anything, the irony behind your post that you give a rat's ass about our military or our veterans. Jared's brothers and sisters in arms, the rest of the 12, their brothers and sisters in arms is an outright lie. We're living proof of that. You're despicable. You have zero business running this country. And I pray to God, Americans wake the hell up and get your ass out of office. You have spit in our face for the last fucking time.

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Vice President Harris, my name is Jim McCollum. I am the gold star father of the United States Marine Corps Lance Corporal Riley McCollum killed in Afghanistan August 26, 2021. Your recent remarks related to Trump's visit to Arlington are filled with nothing but lies in deceit. How do you sleep at night knowing it was you, this administration, you and Biden, you being the last one in the room, are responsible for the death of our 13 kids? You have failed for three years and eight months to acknowledge our kids, to acknowledge me, you don't know me, you've never spoken to me, you've never reached out to me. You have failed in your duties as Vice President. You have been nothing but disrespectful to me and the families of the 13, yet you're claiming that you will always be respectful and show respect for our fallen. You've been absent for three years and eight months. You've proven that you're not capable to do the job that you have, let alone the job that you seek. You know nothing about honor, courage, commitment, respect, but President Trump does. President Trump has been there for us, he's been a rock for us, he's showed compassion for us, and he showed he truly cares for the families that truly do know what the ultimate sacrifice really is. You have the day you deserve.

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Good afternoon, my name is Herman Lopez, I'm a Gold Star father. My son, Corpora Hunter Lopez, was a U.S. Marine killed in action on August 26, 2021. This message is intended for Vice President Kamala Harris. Not a person who usually takes to social media, but earlier today, your post regarding the incident at Arlington National Cemetery was brought to my attention. After reading it, it caused a reaction with me. You indicated in your post that you support the military and military families. I for one have not seen that support. It's been three years since my son was killed in action, and myself, my family, and other Gold Star families have not seen any support from you or your administration. You may make hollow promises about the economy or anything else you'd like to make promises about. But one thing that I ask of you, and the reason I'm making this message, is for you to stop making comments about your support for the military. As a Gold Star father, I know that you have not supported us. I know that you have not supported other Gold Star families. Please stop making these types of comments, because that support has not been demonstrated. Your words are hollow and empty. My other request is that for the American public to know that these messages, these promises from Kamala Harris, especially in regard to supporting the military and our military families, are false and baseless. They have not been proven, and she has not earned our respect. Thank you very much.

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Vice President Harris, my name is Christy Shamblin. My daughter-in-law, Sergeant Nicole Leann Gee, was killed in the Afghanistan exit at Abbey Gate on August 26, 2021. This year for the third year anniversary of her murder, we welcome President Donald J. Trump to Arlington to lay a wreath on the tomb of the unknown soldier with our family and to visit Nicole graveside. President Trump and his team were respectful. They listened to our stories and didn't talk much at all. We welcomed them that day and they were comfort to our family. Vice President Harris, I ask you, why won't you return a call and explain to us how you call my daughter-in-law's death a success? Vice President Harris, why will you not express your condolences yourself? Why have we never heard from you? And finally, why would you take a day where we celebrated the death of our loved one and use it to disparage not only them but us. President Trump has called, President Trump shows up, and President Trump takes the time to hear our loved one's stories. Why won't you do the same?

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So earlier this week, there was a ceremony at Arlington Cemetery for the 13 Americans killed in the Abbey Gate bombing as the United States fled Afghanistan in humiliating fashion. The two people responsible for the carnage did not attend, but Donald Trump did attend that event. And of course, Trump is the only one who's taking heat from the media tonight, desperately trying to keep alive PBS's reporting of an altercation between a Trump staffer and a cemetery official that day. New York Times Maggie Haberman claiming the family of a dead green beret is upset by Trump's team filming near his grave site without their permission. Kelly Barnett was there this week with Trump. She is a gold star mother. Her son, Staff Sergeant Taylor Hoover, was killed in the Abbey Gate suicide bombing, and she joins us tonight. And thank you so much, Kelly, for coming on and joining us. It does seem clear to me that the media wants to protect Biden and Kamala politically. They bear the responsibility for the chaotic exit. They bear responsibility for what happened to your son. So this story is what we get after what we saw and a beautiful ceremony that we saw this week. I want to ask just to start, did you witness any of this alleged tension between the Trump team and the cemetery officials? No, thank you for having me and letting me have a voice. No, I heard about it later that evening and the first thing in the morning. We heard nothing. Everything went so smooth. Trump's team was completely respectful. The Arlington staff was completely respectful. I heard nothing. The claim here is that Trump is politicizing his visit to Arlington and that day that he spent with you. They clearly want Americans to think that Trump is using the 13 killed as some kind of political pawn. When you speak to him, and I know that you have, and I know that he's rather close to all of these families, do you sense that or is there an authentic, you know, concern there from him? No, he is 100 percent authentic. This year I reached out to him. My dad is 80 years old. He has a deep respect for Trump. My son had a deep respect for Trump. I said, oh, this would be great. This is my dad. He said that this is probably his last time to be able to travel there. I wanted him to lay the wreath and I said, this would be a great opportunity. It would be great for our family to have this memory. So we brought him in. Trump was nothing. It was not political whatsoever. He was asking me about Taylor, talking about the family, how we were doing. You know, we'd have, you know, we would talk about, you know, how we felt that day and it was a beautiful day and that it was a joyous day. You know, he told me to, you know, not to cry, that if this was happy, that Taylor was happy and it was a good day, nothing political. This is all just a, you know, they're throwing daggers at us, ghost our parents. You know, we've already been through so much. I, you know, can't they just stay in their lane and mind their businesses had nothing to do with politics whatsoever? When you go to Arlington, I know it's sad and I know it's very somber to be there. But does it make you proud to honor your son? And I mean, that is such a beautiful place and it's such an important place. It is like a sanctuary for me to go there and to sit is a beautiful place. You know, usually I have the place to myself and I can sit and reflect and talk to him. It's just a beautiful somber place, you know, and I know that people keep bringing up this stupid photo. That photo was for me. Trump was walking away and I said, hey, can I get a photo? You know, around Taylor's head, headstone really fast with my family and my friends. It was supposed to be for me. Arlington is the one that took that picture and leaked that photo. They're the ones that gave it to NPR and started this whole thing and that breaks my heart because I love going to Arlington and I've had nothing but great things and great experiences with the staff there. And this breaks my heart that they're allowing their employees to act this way because that is definitely a sanctuary. It's a sacred place for me to be with my son. The politically charged nature of it, you're right, makes no sense, has no place here. It's just, you know, it's you guys have been through a lot, as you said, and your kids are all heroes. What happened that they should not have happened. And it's an embarrassment to I think this administration and I think that's why we have this so politically charged because we're coming up against an election. But I want to thank you so much for coming on tonight and sharing that story with us. And thank you so much for your son. And you should be immensely proud and he belongs in a place that's as beautiful as Arlington Cemetery and it is an incredible place. And thank you so much for coming on. Thank you so much. Thank you, Kelly. All right. We'll be right back.

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President Trump published a statement on Truth Social from five family members, thanking him for making the visit and saying, "We are deeply grateful to the president for taking the time to honor our children and for standing alongside us in our grief, offering his unwavering support during such a difficult time." Joining me now is one of those family members, Kristi Shamblin, mother-in-law of Marine Corps Sergeant Nicole Gee. Gee, aged 23, was deployed to Afghanistan where she served as a female engagement team member to help facilitate evacuation support for Afghan women and children. She was killed in a suicide attack along with 12 other service members that day leaving behind a husband. Kristi, thank you so much for being here. Please tell me about Nicole. Oh, thank you for having me. Nicole was a ray of light. She was an encourager. She believed in having a positive mental attitude, and she was so very proud to be serving on with the FET team in Afghanistan. She was very, very proud to serve there, and they all worked so hard to get the most vulnerable out of that country before, you know, certain death. And we're very proud of her. And we want to continue on her legacy and being encouraging and having a positive mental attitude. I'm so sorry for your loss, and I'm trying to understand what exactly went on on Monday. You wanted the former president there. By the way, I think it's a wonderful thing that he was there, reflective and honoring our war dead. But it crossed a line at some point. How do you see it? Well, first, I want to remind everybody that it's really hard to find a way on August 26 to celebrate, and we want to celebrate our heroes. We invited both President Trump and the Biden Harris administration, and we didn't hear back from the White House. We were happy to welcome President Trump to lay wreaths with all three of our families and our wounded, some of our wounded from that day. And when he came to Section 60, it was at our request to spend time with our loved ones. There was not a presence there. We privately took pictures among ourselves. And it was, you know, a more celebratory feeling for that day, because, you know, we want to celebrate our loved ones. And it's very hard to find ways to do that, you know, at a cemetery. But they were very respectful. We didn't see any altercation. And really, we just want our loved ones to be honored and remembered in a positive way. So I hear and respect all of that. At the same time, I have to say he should not have used the video that was recorded in TikTok for a campaign purpose. Can we agree on that? I'm not on TikTok. So I don't know what it is. But yeah, you know, there's no political campaigning that was done at Section 60 that day. Right. It was a respectful time. I'm showing I'm showing I'm showing what was put on TikTok so that the audience can see it. And I recognize you might not be able to see it. We didn't lose one person in 18 months, says the narration, and then they took over that disaster. The leaving of Afghanistan. We lost 13 great, great people. I mean, it's got a message of saying I did right by our soldiers and he Biden or Biden and Harris did not. I mean, up until that point, I like I like get it. It's great that he's there. Family members want pictures. Terrific. Take the pictures, do whatever the family members want. But he shouldn't have put it on TikTok for a political purpose. Well, you know, I just have to go back to we really just want our kids to be remembered and honored. And it's unfortunate that we can't get that, you know, in other ways. So we support President Trump and he supported us. A final question, if I might, do you worry that the issue, the legitimate issue of the way in which we left Afghanistan and the circumstances three years ago at Abbey Gate now sort of diminishes as an issue, because when people think of Afghanistan, the withdrawal, it'll be the controversy over Arlington instead of a very appropriate focus on the death of those 13 final thought on that. I think our media needs to do a better job of focusing on the Afghanistan withdrawal instead of things like this that aren't really relevant or or important. I mean, we were very respectful. I understand that there may have been, you know, a little bit of a misunderstanding, but we'd like to take the focus back to just like you said, let's talk about how we left all the equipment behind. Let's talk about the Americans and the Afghans we left behind. Let's talk about the people we brought over that weren't vetted. Let's talk about the wounded. And that's what we want to bring focus back to. I appreciate that because that's exactly what we want. You know, the American people to focus on. We want our armed service members to be safer. We will have another evacuation. And if we don't start to focus on how to fix this, it will end in more casualties. And that's unacceptable. Christy Godspeed to you, your family in particular, your son. Thank you for being here. Thank you very much.

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No, and look, this is so imperative that President Trump wins the next election, because these NGOs won't be getting billions of dollars, and these people will be sitting at an ICE bed, an ICE facility, at about $107 a night, rather than $500 a night, and they'll be deported. So you know, President Trump, look, I worked for six presidents, not with Ronald Reagan. President Trump's success on the board was unprecedented, what he did. It would even more grace than a 45-year low. It would even more grace than down 83% to 90%. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the first administration who came in office and unsecured the most secure border in my lifetime. Trump's going to win in December, we're going to secure that border and protect Americans and save lives.

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