Beth and I have been spending countless hours during the past month cleaning out my parents’ house to get it ready to be sold. I have a few takeaways. Although I have been able to donate many items, some useful items had to be thrown away because of a lack of interest.
Since my parents’ house is bigger than mine, and they had a two-car garage, they were able to store more items than I could at my home. That becomes a problem when trying to deal with items you find that you may want to keep. It is forcing me to go through our stuff and get rid of or donate items we have had for years and really do not need. I expect this next phase to also be time-consuming. This is in addition to separating items that other family members may want to keep. I only have one sibling, so it is not so bad. I can imagine those who have many siblings. There could be disputes as to who keeps what and what should be done with every item.
I remember the reunion that I organized for the Etz Chaim minyan of the former Bayside Jewish Center a few months before the building was sold and the synagogue merged with Hollis Hills Jewish Center. I felt a sense of closure after the event. Cleaning my parents’ house has also been helpful in dealing with the fact that they are both now gone and the house I grew up in will be sold. Going through the items is a reminder not only of parts of my life but also my parents’ lives. There are items concerning grandparents and other relatives who I never knew or do not remember because they died before I was born or when I was very young.
Now on to my main topic. Republicans, led by Senator J.D. Vance, have been going after Governor Tim Walz’s claims of military service during the 24 years Walz was in the Minnesota National Guard. Walz may have embellished a portion of his record, including that he used a weapon of war. Walz did go overseas but he was not in a combat zone. Vance also had the same experience, to the extent that when he was sent to Iraq, his responsibilities were in the press office as a combat correspondent. Walz and other Democrats to their credit did not attempt to attack Vance for his service. A military is not only made up of frontline soldiers; there are many other important positions which a military needs. Thus, everyone in the military or the National Guard deserves our respect and admiration no matter what they do. Vance also attacked Walz’s claim that he retired from the Guard because he knew they were going to be sent overseas. Walz said he did so because he wanted to run for Congress, which he ended up winning, and he did not know about the deployment when he made his decision.
Then there is Donald Trump. He was draft age during the Vietnam War. He did what many people did. Some had deferments because of college. Trump had a bogus excuse that he had bone spurs that precluded him from fighting. It was reported that a doctor wrote this as a favor to Fred Trump, Donald’s father, who was a real estate tycoon in New York City at the time. He should be the last guy to criticize anyone who answered the call of their county and become part of the military. Therefore, it is hard for Vance to criticize Walz when the nominee for president got out of serving.
To make matters worse, Trump has a history of denigrating those who served. The most recent were his comments made at a recent event at which Miriam Adelson, who Trump had given the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018, was present. Trump said: “That’s the highest award you can get as a civilian. It’s the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor, but civilian version. It’s actually much better, because everyone who gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, that’s soldiers, they’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets, or they’re dead. She gets it, and she’s a healthy, beautiful woman.” “And they’re rated equal.”
As you can imagine, veteran’s groups were outraged. The commander of the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) put out a statement that “These asinine comments not only diminish the significance of our nation’s highest award for valor, but also crassly characterizes the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives above and beyond the call of duty. When a candidate to serve as our military’s commander-in-chief so brazenly dismisses the valor and reverence symbolized by the Medal of Honor and those who have earned it, I must question whether they would discharge their responsibilities to our men and women in uniform with the seriousness and discernment necessary for such a powerful position. It is even more disappointing when these comments come from a man who already served in this noble office and should frankly already know better. While the Presidential Medal of Freedom maybe our nation’s highest civilian award, the Medal of Honor is more sacred as it represents the gallantry and intrepidity of courageous and selfless service members, often at the cost of grievous wounds and even their lives.”
Thanks to Trump, the criticism has shifted from Walz to Trump. The more Trump talks, the better Harris looks. It just reminds people why they voted for Biden over him in 2020. Fox and QJL fellow columnists and letter writers can ignore Trump’s outlandish comments or defend them. The electorate will not.
Warren S. Hecht is a local attorney. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
