My father served honorably as an Army Flight Officer in World War II as did other relatives from Westerly and Pawcatuck. Growing up I never once heard any of them complain about their service. That was not who they were. Year after year our families celebrated Veterans Day by attending parades and memorials that paid tribute to those who served.

Conversely, news that President Trump refused to visit a war memorial and reportedly believes that Americans who died on a European battlefield were suckers and losers speaks volumes about the kind of person he is. Donald Trump has spent a lifetime lying and cheating as Andrea Bernstein provides the proof of in her masterfully crafted book “American Oligarchs, The Kushners, The Trumps, and the Marriage of Money and Power.” Donald Trump was granted five service deferments during the Vietnam War: Four for college and a fifth by claiming he suffered from a medical condition called heel spurs. Where is the gratitude?

I am pretty sure that my father and my relatives would roll over in their graves if they knew what a sitting president had to say about those fallen American service members.

Bryan Sayles

Waterford