Due to "Rain," TRUMP BAILS ON HONORING OUR VETERANS, HIDES AT AMBASSADOR's RESIDENCE IN PARIS

Our American Veterans fought in the rain, our postmen deliver mail in the rain, but President TRUMP, the real estate developer in the White House, refused to attend an international cemetery honor for U.S. veterans of the World War I Battle of Belleau Wood.

My Polish-American grandfather, a non-citizen, volunteered and served in the U.S. Navy.  

My father, a proud U.S. citizen at birth in 1913, volunteered the day after D-Day in 1941, enlisting in the Army (the Navy had earlier refused to take him because he was color blind and could not read semaphore flags).  Dad went to Fort Bragg an d Fort Benning and became an 82nd Airborne Division non-commissioned officer.  Dad participated in three combat jumps (North Africa, Sicily and Normandy).  On the morning of D-Day, June 6, 1944, my dad was older than most 82nd soldiers, almost 32 -- they called him "the old man."  

My dad was wounded after several weeks in France by Nazi shrapnel, some of which remained in his knee for the rest of his long life. My dad was awarded the Purple Heart and three (3) Bronze Stars, once modestly stealing me "they gave one to everyone who jumped).   The South Jersey Chapter of the 82nd ABN DIVN ASSN, Inc. is the "CPL Edward A Slavin Chapter," named in honor of my dad.

My dad taught me -- as JFK's dad taught him -- that you have to stand up to people with power, or they walk all over you.

I was proud to receive an 82nd ABN DIVN. ASSN. scholarship for undergraduate work at Georgetown University, and prouder still to sit with my mom and dad at memorial luncheons where the incomparable Chaplain George Wood would pay tribute to the men of the 82nd who sacrificed their lives for our freedoms.   His prayer was a homily, an awe-inspiring tribute to the men won suffered, died and were buried, defeating Adolf Hitler and his Nazi storm troopers and their genocidal attack on Western civilization.

Our American Founders pledged their "lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor" for our freedom in 1776.  

Their promise has been tossed like a torch to each new generation.

My father and grandfather and milllions of other patriots since 1775 have fought in the rain.  But Herr TRUMP is no patriot, no soldier and lacks honor.  Time for him to go.

On soldiers fighting for our American values in the rain, here are some classic World War II cartoons from Stars and Stripes cartoonist Bill Mauldin:

And here's one he did after the war, about the KKK, of which TRUMP's father was a member, and arrested in a 1927 KKK riot in NYC:

Here's some news coverage from NBC News:


White House decision to cancel veterans' cemetery visit in France creates a storm of its own

The White House cited weather concerns for the cancellation but the decision isn't sitting well with some European observers.

Nov. 10, 2018 / 12:50 PM EST / Updated 1:16 PM EST

By Carol E. Lee, Kristen Welker and Kelly O'Donnell

PARIS — The White House’s decision on Saturday to scrap the president’s visit to a cemetery for fallen American soldiers due to weather is creating a bit of a storm of its own.

President Donald Trump was scheduled to take a 30-minute helicopter ride from Paris to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial in Belleau, France. But a rainy forecast for the city made it too risky for him to safely fly there, the White House said a couple hours before he was to arrive at the cemetery.

"The President and First Lady’s trip to Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial has been canceled due to scheduling and logistical difficulties caused by the weather,” the White House announced.

White House chief of staff John Kelly and Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the roughly 50-mile long trip to the cemetery in a small motorcade of vehicles. The drive took about 90 minutes each way. Separately, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel traveled a similar distance by car to a commemorative event in northern France.

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, left, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, center, attend a ceremony at the Aisne Marne American Cemetery near the Belleau Wood battleground, in Belleau, France on Nov. 10, 2018.Francois Mori / AP

The White House’s bad-weather call for Trump is not sitting well with some observers.

François Heisbourg, a political analyst and former campaign adviser to Macron, posted a photograph on Twitter of someone bicycling in Paris and wrote the weather that kept Trump from the cemetery is: “Nothing a cyclist can't handle, let alone a presidential helo.”

A member of the British Parliament and grandson of legendary British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Nicholas Soames, was even more critical, calling Trump “pathetic” and “inadequate” on Twitter because he “couldn’t even defy the weather to pay his respects to The Fallen” who “died with their face to the foe.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also participated in armistice events outside the city Saturday, at a battle site about two hours north of Paris by car.

Trump is in Paris for the weekend with dozens of other world leaders to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. On Sunday he's scheduled to attend an event marking Armistice Day and visit a cemetery where Americans who died in both world wars are buried.

Kelly Magsamen, who served on the National Security Council under both Republican and Democratic presidents, said it displayed “real low energy,” for Trump "to not bother to honor the sacrifice of American soldiers in WWI due to some rain. Somehow everyone else was able to do so today.”

When asked about the criticism, the White House pointed to its initial statement on the matter. The White House typically considers a variety of factors when making bad weather calls for a president’s air travel, including the possibility of changing forecasts and how high the cloud ceiling is.

The White House did not say why the president chose not to motorcade when taking a helicopter was no longer an option. Instead the president returned to the U.S. ambassador to France’s residence, where he and the first lady are staying in Paris, for about four and a half hours.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also planned to attend, but he too was deterred by “scheduling and logistical difficulties caused by the weather,” according to one of his aides.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders defended the president’s decision not to travel by motorcade to the cemetery. “We can't shut the city down for four hours for him to go there and back plus the asset issue” referring to US security resources,” she told NBC News.

Sanders said Trump’s view of the change was: “We had the two best marines that he knows there to represent our country with General Kelly and General Dunford.”

Sanders noted the weather doesn’t look promising for Trump’s Sunday trip to honor U.S. soldiers who died in both world wars.

More than 2,000 soldiers are buried at the World War I cemetery, many of whom died in the Battle of Belleau Wood. Kelly and Dunford, who were joined by their wives, placed a wreath in front of the cemetery’s chapel and walked through the rows of gravestones under a low cloud cover and a light rain.

After his visit to the town of Compiègne, where Germany and France signed the 1918 armistice, Macron posted a photo of the two leaders at the site with a single word — “Unis” — which is French for “united.”

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to arrive in Paris Sunday, Sanders said, adding that the two leaders would likely encounter each other briefly this weekend.

“If anything, it will be a quick hello,” she said. “I’m sure they'll say ‘hi’ to one another but there’s no formal engagement expected at all.”

As for Trump’s tension with Macron over his comment about increasing European defenses in part to protect against the U.S., Sanders said the disagreement had been diffused during their meeting Saturday.

“They worked that out today in their one-on-one,” she said.