I've watched two of the four installments of Ken Burns' Vietnam War documentary which is airing this week on PBS. It's a bleak portrait of a war in which this country should have never involved ourselves unless it could be won and it is evident that LBJ and Robert McNamara didn't think it was winnable and yet proceeded apace.
Yet in watching this documentary my thoughts turn to our current President. Among those interviewed were former U.S. Navy Commander Everett Alvarez, Jr. who spent more than eight years in captivity. In addition to the interview, Burns includes footage of Alvarez and other POWs being paraded through the streets of North Vietnam.
I wonder if President Trump has watched this documentary. If he has what does he say when he sees Alvarez? Does he say he likes people who weren't captured? If he does say such things is he aware that Alvarez earned two Legion of Merits, two Bronze Star Medals, two Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Distinguished Flying Cross? And if Trump is aware does Alvarez's service mean anything to him? Or is Alvarez just another Mexican like Judge Gonzalo Curiel? (Alvarez's grandparents immigrated from Mexico).
The fact that I have to pose these questions leads me to a single conclusion. Donald Trump isn't worthy to lick the boots of Everett Alvarez, Jr., John McCain or for that matter the North Vietnamese who kept them in captivity.
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