Like many veterans, the older men and women who wore combat unit and battlefield badges were reluctant to talk about their past lives. But after one person finally spoke up to denounce this man they called “the devil,” the floodgates opened, anger and alarm far beyond normal political debate.
Veterans gathered on a warm evening at Kamala Harris’ phone bank in Saginaw, Michigan, a key battleground state. But first they had to talk to each other about where they served and how that shapes their view of next week’s presidential election.
Most joined the military decades ago, and some have only been in the military for a few years. But combat in Korea and Vietnam lasted long enough to define the course of their lives and shape their worldview. From that vantage point, veterans view Donald Trump with undisguised disgust.
Some even refused to say his name, including former Air Force electrician Josie Couch.
"This man here, that man Kamala is fighting, is the devil, and you know, he’s not even trying to hide it,” she told her fellow veterans. .
Q&A Why Saginaw, Michigan?Display
In a very tight US election decided by a small number of voters in a few key battleground states, the Guardian investigates Saginaw, Michigan. The state is a swing state, and its voters will have a huge impact on the outcome of the battle between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Chris McGreal is on the ground in Saginaw researching issues that matter to voters of all political stripes in the run-up to the November election.
Saginaw voters: What issues will decide U.S. elections?
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Younger Americans fear that having President Trump in office again will further erode the rights they thought were established, especially after the Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion. I’m concerned.
Veterans were shaped by early lives in which they had to fight for rights in the first place, without many of the rights currently under threat, including greater racial and gender equality. , bringing a longer perspective. Couch, a Black woman, remembers her service and working life in the 1970s as a time when she and others fought against sexism, harassment, and hostility.
Josie Couch applauds the veterans who volunteer for Harris. Photo: Rick Findler/The Guardian
Now, she said, President Trump wants to “take away everything we worked hard for, everything our parents worked hard for.”
“We all didn’t have a great military life because the men didn’t really want us to be there. I was called every name except Josie. I was called myself. I kind of forgot the name,” she said.
“If we take a step back, we’re going to be in trouble because we don’t know how to go back.”
Others in the room shouted, “We’re not going back!”
Couch continued.
“If they take away women’s rights, come quickly. How did we get here? If we didn’t stand up for our rights, we wouldn’t be here today.” she said.
“Men don’t tell us what to do with your body. We still haven’t heard what they’re going to do with their bodies, so why do they keep pushing us down?”
Trump is polarizing veterans just as he is polarizing other Americans. Some of those who held the most senior positions in the military are now publicly denouncing him.
John Kelly, President Trump’s former chief of staff and a former Marine Corps general, has warned that his former boss fits the definition of a fascist and would rule like a dictator if he returned to the White House.
Other former generals and intelligence officials have joined in Trump’s condemnation, including former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, former CIA Director John Brennan, and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.
But for Saginaw veterans, their anger is more visceral. Amid an outpouring of disdain for Trump, they speak with unusual passion about the former president’s repeated disdain for those who served in the military and his targeting of society’s most vulnerable.
Dave Saroger took to the stage wearing a hat identifying him as a Vietnam veteran of the 101st Airborne. He began by telling the story of his grandparents, who fled the Austro-Hungarian Empire for Canada in 1918 and then illegally crossed the border into the United States.
Saroger’s grandfather died in a mining accident in Michigan in 1924, and her grandmother raised her children as a single mother while working in a cannery.
“Technically, I’m the grandson of an illegal immigrant, and I hear immigrants being criticized for all the wrong things, even though they’re the people who make America great. My grandmother was an illegal immigrant. She eventually received citizenship at the age of 80. She sent her third son to fight in World War II, but he was wounded,” Saroger said. said.
Veteran Dave Saroger speaks at Veterans Volunteers for Harris. Photo: Rick Findler/The Guardian
“Myself and two of my cousins, who are the grandchildren of this illegal immigrant, went to Vietnam.”
Sarogar joined the combat unit in 1968 at the age of 19 and served for almost two years. He told the Guardian that the trauma of that war defined his life, and he lost a series of jobs in the transport industry after turning to alcohol for 10 years. That’s one reason he despises President Trump’s claim that bone spurs make him unfit for military service.
But Saloger has real anger over how the former president talks about other veterans. Some in the audience expressed disgust at Trump’s attack on Sen. John McCain, a prisoner of war in North Vietnam in 2015.
“He’s not a war hero. Did he become a war hero because he was captured? I like people who weren’t captured,” Trump said.
As president, Trump derided America’s war dead as “suckers” and “losers” after refusing to visit the U.S. World War II military cemetery in Normandy in 2020. In August, the U.S. military publicly criticized Trump campaign officials for canceling a ceremony in Arlington. A national cemetery was built to commemorate the deaths of American soldiers in Afghanistan and provide a photo opportunity for Republican presidential candidates.
Salogar does not hide his disdain.
“He said we were bad and losers. The man couldn’t go to Normandy to go to the cemetery on June 6 because it was raining and he was going to mess up his hair. “What kind of man is that?” he said.
“When I was in Vietnam, I wasn’t old enough to vote. Now I’m 76 years old. This will probably be the last election I’ll vote in, but it’s the most important.”
Jerry and Dale Blank met and married while working at a defunct U.S. military base in Iceland. He was in the Navy for almost 24 years and she was in the Air Force.
Jerry Blank told the Guardian that he supported Harris because “it’s time for a woman to be president of the United States.” Dale interrupted him.
Jerrold and Dale Blank, veterans who volunteer for Harris; Photo: Rick Findler/The Guardian
“Well, that’s not the only reason, because we both agree that Mr. Trump cannot be allowed to serve again. He has no respect for anyone but himself. He has no respect for veterans. He has no respect for anyone. That’s why he can’t return to the White House. ” she said.
They, too, were outraged by President Trump’s disdain for other veterans.
“The moment he said Mr. McCain was not a warrior, it was an insult to everyone who fought and died,” Dale said.
But she’s worried about more than insults. Like others in the room, she questioned whether American democracy could survive another run at the White House.
“I don’t think the rule of law will prevail. The Supreme Court has already given him unlimited power. If we give it to egoists and fascists, we will lose our country. Literally. We will lose our country,” she said.
Yet, despite his anger at the former president’s failure to do his job while disrespecting those who served, Saloger paused to say that Trump would have taken responsibility as a military member. I looked back.
“When I was 19 years old, I learned that you are white, you are black, you are brown, and your blood is red,” he said.
“I’m glad he wasn’t by my side because I’m so grateful for the incredible acts of courage, incredible acts of compassion by 19-, 20-year-olds like me, I’ve seen incredible sacrifices.”