War and Politics

I recently watched CNN’s Dana Bash interview with Republican Vice Presidential candidate Ohio Senator J.D. Vance. Her pathetic attempt to disparage President Trump’s lack of military service was risible.

Her regurgitation of DNC talking points about Trump’s Vietnam-era draft deferment revealed how unscrupulous she is. After all, she never questioned President Joe Biden’s deferments despite Biden’s horrendous withdrawal from Afghanistan, costing the lives of America’s bravest. She never questioned Bill Clinton’s draft evasion while committing, at best, borderline treason- even though Clinton sent some of America’s bravest to fight in the Balkans. She never questioned Barack Obama’s lack of military service. Even though he also sent America’s bravest in harm’s way.

Why did Dana Bash ignore this? Probably because Clinton, Obama, and Biden are Democrats, and Bash favors Democrats.

But more than just the usual hypocrisy and Democratic Party propaganda by Left-Wing journalists such as Dana Bash, this interview caused me to consider a larger issue: the whole matter of military service by American presidents. While politicians always raise the topic, the fact is that the American people are not the least bit concerned. This has been repeatedly demonstrated since the end of the 1980s.

I am the son of a U.S. Army Air Force Master Sergeant who participated in the Battle of the Aleutian Islands during World War II. I am the nephew of a Private in the 4th Infantry Division who survived the landing on Utah Beach on D-Day only to be killed three days later in some forgotten battle in Normandy on the way to liberate the port of Cherbourg. Another one of my uncles was a member of the 66th Infantry Division. He was wounded in France in 1944. Still another uncle was a U.S. frogman in World War II. Still, another uncle served in the China-Burma-India theater during World War II.

After World War II, my father became an undercover federal narcotics agent. He used his skill of speaking fluent Sicilian to infiltrate the Lucky Luciano mob’s heroin racket.

My father had two sons. Both of us were Philadelphia police officers. My brother made a career of it. I did not. I have a son. His Godfather, my cousin through marriage, is a distinguished, retired Philadelphia police officer.

With my family background in combat and law enforcement, I find election-year media debates about whose military service is more honorable quite amusing. After all, as I said, the American people have shown – to their discredit – that military service means absolutely nothing to them in electing a President of the United States.

A review of recent American history discloses the sad facts. Neither of the last five Presidents had combat experience. One, Bill Clinton, was not only a draft dodger but protested against American soldiers in combat while on enemy soil – an arguably treasonous act. What is even more disturbing is that Clinton was elected instead of two verifiable war heroes, Republican candidates George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole.

Barack Obama did not serve. His Republican opponent in the 2008 presidential election was Arizona Senator John McCain, a verified war hero. But the American people chose Obama instead. George W. Bush’s Democratic opponent in 2004, John Kerry, was a combat veteran of Vietnam. Americans chose Bush—although it could be argued that Kerry’s testimony about American atrocities may have contributed to this.

So military service is not seen as a prerequisite for presidential office by the American people, even in times of war. President George H.W. Bush was the last president to have combat experience and has previously mentioned he lost reelection in 1992 to a draft-dodging, Russophilic, anti-war protester.  

Why military service is not a factor in choosing an American president is a great topic for some enterprising journalist or social scientist. It should be. Being in the military, like being a police officer, firefighter, or emergency medical technician, provides an insight into one’s character. It is not dispositive. There are many paths to serving humanity. Yet defending one’s country from those who wish to destroy it is chief among them.

My favorite science fiction writer Robert Heinlein’s novel Starship Troopers portrayed a nation where one could not be a citizen unless one served in the military. The rationale was that if one did not serve the nation by a willingness to protect, one should not have a say in how the nation is governed. 

Something to ponder.

Michael P. Tremoglie

Michael P. Tremoglie is a retired newspaper columnist. He was an investigative reporter for the Philadelphia Bulletin and a regular contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and the Washington Times. He also served as a Philadelphia police officer.