Thank You For Your Service BUT

On this Veteran’s Day, it would have been nice to finally hear the truth. Not just the trite and ubiquitous phrase “Thank you for your service” that active military servicemen and women and veterans alike keep hearing, but another expanded and more honest version. Something like “Thank you for your service BUT we’re going to keep screwing you and not giving you the help you need and deserve.”

Oh, does that sound too long to you, dear readers? Maybe it is. But at least it’s honest. At least it’s not a phony declaration of patriotism that’s given for only a few minutes once, maybe twice, a year.

No doubt veterans do appreciate it when civilians recognize their dedication and sacrifice and love of country. They realize “Thank you for your service” is a token sign of civilian gratitude. They understand the sincerity and good intentions behind these kind words. Unfortunately, a lot of vets also feel sadness and uneasiness and confusion when they hear these words. Why?

Because they know from firsthand experience that, despite these kind words, they’re going to continue to get screwed, scammed, ignored, neglected, and ripped-off in some way for the rest of their lives simply because they’re veterans.

No, it’s not that they think America owes them anything. It’s just when they ask for the help or consideration that the military and their government and various help organizations have repeatedly promised them, they get no help or consideration.

And when you’re sick or homeless or hitting rock bottom, getting something — anything — could mean the difference between life and death. And, if you’re a “forgotten man” —or woman— who keeps hearing “Thank you for your service,” the contrast between good intention and bleak reality becomes too much to bear. That phrase soon becomes meaningless lip service — and it emotionally exhausts you.

The irony between the intended respect and what actually happens in real life hurts so much you get so you don’t want to be thanked for your service because no one really cares about the sacrifices you’ve made, anyway.

Whoa. Wait a minute. Irony? Meaningless lip service? Which contrast between good intentions and bleak reality am I talking about?

I’m talking about the classic scam: Charitable organizations that take money for veterans, then give nothing to veterans. Fake fundraisers, crooked go-fund-me pages, and phony phone calls that promise to help vets but never do. More significantly, I’m talking about the big rip-off that America’s Commander-in-Chief just pulled.

Don’t feel too bad if you haven’t heard about it yet, dear trusting readers. It was just another outrageous thing that Trump did and nobody wanted to put in the newspaper — or broadcast on the nightly news — because everybody’s getting sick and tired of his bizarre behavior.

Here in Minnesota, supposedly the headquarters of the “liberal media,” Trump’s shameful antics that were reported on Friday, November 8, 2019, didn’t even make the front page!

The St. Paul Pioneer Press hid it near the Business section on page 6A, under the headline “Trump fined $2M for charitable abuses.” You couldn’t miss it, though, because it was right next to a photo of a deer rescued by lobster fishermen.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune tucked their news coverage away, also on page 6A, under the heading “Trump admits misusing charity funds.”

Only The New York Times saw fit to put this news story on the front page, in the bottom right-hand corner, with the headline “Trump’s Misuse of Charity Costs Him $2 Million.”

What’s surprising about this media coverage is how broadcasters and different talking heads on various networks downplayed the gravity of Trump’s behavior. His actions weren’t just immoral or unethical. What he did was blatantly and unbelievably illegal. Trump deliberately screwed America’s veterans — then repeatedly lied about what he was doing.

Here’s the condensed version of what happened.

Back in January, 2016, when other Republicans were in Des Moines, Iowa, talking substantive issues around caucus time, good citizen Trump (yet another candidate for the Presidency) decided to hold a televised fundraiser…FOR VETERANS! Donations poured in from all over the country. Trump boasted he’d raised 5, then 6, million dollars for the vets. That was a lie because, in reality, only around 2.8 million dollars — that we know of, anyway — was raised. But it still was a significant sum — one that any veteran’s group would have appreciated.

Unfortunately, for veterans, this “fundraiser” was really a campaign publicity stunt for Trump. Trump’s “charity” gave his campaign control over the money raised. So the money supposedly raised for veterans went instead to pay Trump’s legal obligations. Donations went to companies he owned, like Mar-a-Largo, his golf clubs in New York and Florida, even a costly portrait — of himself. If anything was given to vets, the amount paled in comparison to what Trump gave to himself. Then to complicate matters even more, Trump kept changing the amount he claimed he’d raised and allegedly given to veterans — and then refused to share any records of his contributions or how his “charity” actually operated.

For a really comprehensive narrative of Trump’s scam, and the tangled web of deception he attempted to weave, go to the website of The Washington Post. Enter the headline “Four months after fundraiser, Trump says he gave $1 million to veterans group.” Reporter David A. Fahrenthold’s account shows how persistent investigative reporting always uncovers the truth. See his reports from May 24, 2016, the UPDATE on the same date, then May 31, 2016. Trump not only publicly lied, he defrauded donors, misused funds, AND didn’t deliver on his promise to veterans.

No wonder so many veterans feel such discouragement and disillusionment when it comes to this kind of civilian gratitude.

Here’s the good news: Trump was actually sued by the Attorney General’s Office of New York and found guilty! Wonder of wonders, POTUS 45 even acknowledged his wrongdoing, according to court documents.

The bad news? Justice Saliann Scarpulla of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan gave him a break because, well, he IS the President of The United States. Trump agreed to having his future charitable activities in New York “monitored.” That impressed the judge. (But remember, he is no longer a legal resident of New York).

Of course, if you or I would have scammed donors and veterans like that, we’d be in the jail house now. Not Trump. He didn’t even have to pay this $2.8 million to veterans. Instead, his lawyers agreed to use $1.7 million — what was left in his foundation’s coffers — to various charities (that were not affiliated with veterans groups). Then the $2 million in damages (kind of like a “fine”) Judge Scarpulla awarded were to go to that same group of charities (again, no veterans group). So the vets never did get the millions they were supposed to get.

Even Trump’s grown children — supposedly “officers of the foundation” — got off easy in this settlement. Instead of going to jail or even doing 100 hours of community service, Sleepy, Sneezy, and Ivanka only had to take training courses to ensure they wouldn’t break these laws again. What happened to the punishment this bad dad and his kids should have gotten for the laws they already violated?

And where’s the All-American outrage that should have flared up when our veterans got mistreated and misused? What happened to our righteous anger that should have erupted when Trump’s fundraiser for veterans didn’t deliver to the veterans?
Where did the justice in our justice system go?