The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. 

About 27,000 Wisconsinites have died in America’s wars.  On Memorial Day we come together as Americans to honor them and their families.  It’s a sacred duty.  However, Trump keeps dishonoring our memorializing those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms.

In his first administration, Trump told Marine General (Ret.) John Kelly, then White House chief of staff: American troops captured, wounded or killed in action were “losers and suckers.”  Kelly’s son, also a Marine, was killed in Afghanistan.  And, never forget Trump’s vicious disparagement of Vietnam War hero John McCain.  Kelly concluded his NYT interview observing that Trump has “no” empathy.

The second Trump administration is far worse.  Trump is trying to build a huge arch, without congressional approval, nearby Arlington National Cemetery to honor himself.  A nightmare out of Pyongyang, North Korea.  Unlike Wisconsin Democratic Representative Bob Kastenmeier or GOP Governor Tommy Thompson, Trump avoided serving in the U.S. military.

Washington Post columnist Philip Kennicott wrote: “It (the arch) is an insult to the men and women who risk their lives to protect democracy, who have fought in wars against fascism, who have actually achieved victory rather than merely declared and celebrated it. … The men and women who lie in Arlington have earned (resting in) peace, and they deserve our quiet, humble gratitude, not this monstrous monument to power, war and one man’s ego.”  How dare Trump despoil that sacred ground.

Huge banners with Trump’s picture now hang on the outside of the Departments of Agriculture, Justice and Labor.  “Such displays are more often a feature of countries run by dictators, not democratically elected leaders” (NYT). Trump ordered the National Guard to occupy the District of Columbia “until law and order is restored.”  However, National Guard troops are not trained to be police.  Another dishonest political machination, misusing our troops.  Meanwhile, armed National Guard troops needlessly patrol the city.

Trump even compared himself to Jesus Christ after criticizing Pope Leo’s warning about war.  Earlier, U.S. Catholic Cardinals Cupich, McElroy and Tobin denounced U.S. foreign policy: “The events in Venezuela, Ukraine and Greenland have raised basic questions about the use of military force and the meaning of peace. … War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading.” The U.S. has now unconscionably imposed a blockade against Cuba which is punishing the civilian population.  Will the U.S. escalate further with a military attack against Cuba?

Meanwhile, Trump’s illegal and ill-advised war of choice against Iran continues.  There have been over 400 U.S. casualties.  Prior to launching the war, Defense Secretary Hegseth dishonored U.S. troops by firing the top lawyers for the military.  Georgetown University Law Professor Rosa Brooks said: “It’s what you do when you’re planning to break the law: you get rid of any lawyers who might try to slow you down.”  Trump political appointees are commanding the U.S. military to illegally commit war crimes. A U.S. general retired apparently in opposition.

U.S. troops and our dead must be honored. Trump and his political appointees deserve our contempt.

Kaplan wrote a guest column from Washington, D.C., for the Wisconsin State Journal from 1995 – 2009.