A Regular Guy

I’m not a fancy writer. I’m not a historian. I’m just a regular guy watching all this, and the more I look at Trump’s behavior toward the military, the more it makes my blood boil. It wasn’t just one comment or one moment. It was a pattern, a long, ugly pattern of disrespect toward the people who served, the people who sacrificed, and the oath he swore to uphold. And once you start seeing that pattern, you can’t unsee it. It’s everywhere. It’s in the way he talks about soldiers, the way he mocked them, the way he acted like their injuries were no big deal. It’s in the way he treated the uniform like a costume he could slip on for attention. It’s in the way he treats the oath like it's just some words he had to say to get the job.

Millions of Americans answered the call to serve. Some volunteered. Some were drafted, and the draft wasn’t optional. Plenty of men didn’t get deferments or special treatment. They didn’t get excuses. They didn’t get a doctor’s note. They went. They fought. They bled. They died. They carried the weight so the country could stand. Trump didn’t carry that weight. He refused the call. And then years later, he turned around and acted like he was some kind of war hero. That’s where the disrespect really shows. Because instead of showing humility about the fact that others served while he didn’t, Trump went the opposite direction. He mocked wounded veterans with gestures. He dismissed traumatic brain injuries as “headaches.” He talked down to generals. He insulted Gold Star families. He shrugged at long deployments like they were nothing.

And then there’s what he said about John McCain — a man who was beaten, starved, tortured, and refused early release because he wouldn’t abandon his fellow prisoners. Trump looked at all that sacrifice and said: “I like people who weren’t captured.” That’s not just disrespect. That’s a slap in the face to every POW who ever suffered for this country.

And here’s the part that blows my mind: this kind of disrespect shouldn’t just bother Democrats. It shouldn’t just bother veterans. It shouldn’t just bother people who served or families who lost someone. This should bother every American, period. Anyone who has ever stood up in a classroom and said the Pledge of Allegiance with their hand over their heart. Anyone who has ever taken their hat off at a ballgame and sang or listened to the national anthem. Anyone who has ever told their kid that the flag stands for something bigger than all of us. Because when a President mocks POWs, shrugs off combat injuries, insults Gold Star families, and treats the uniform like a Halloween costume, he’s not just disrespecting the military; he’s disrespecting the country itself. He’s disrespecting the sacrifice behind the flag. He’s disrespecting the people who carried the burden so the rest of us could live free. He’s disrespecting the oath he swore in front of all of us. And if that doesn’t bother you, if that doesn’t make your stomach turn, then something inside you has gone numb.

And it didn’t stop there. Trump posted pictures of himself dressed up like some five‑star general, covered in medals he never earned, wearing uniforms he never wore. Real soldiers don’t get to Photoshop their valor. They earn it. They earn it through fear, sweat, discipline, and danger. They earn it through the oath, the same oath Trump swore and then ignored.

And that brings us to Major Watson. Because when we talk about Major Watson, I believe we’re not talking about some guy making a political statement. We’re talking about a soldier who was dead serious about one thing above everything else: the oath. That oath wasn’t background noise to him. It wasn’t a box he checked on his first day. He didn’t say it once and forget it. It was the core of his service. It guided him. It grounded him. It told him what was right even when it was hard. And when he saw the Commander‑in‑Chief treating that oath like it didn’t matter, like it was just a formality, that’s when he stood up. Because I believe Watson believes the oath still means something, and he wasn’t about to let anyone cheapen it. Watson didn’t disrespect the military. He defended it. He defended the meaning of the uniform. He defended the people who actually answered the call, whether they volunteered or were drafted.

When Watson held up his sign, Impeach. Convict. Remove, he wasn’t trying to tear down the country. He was trying to protect it. He was trying to say that the Commander‑in‑Chief should respect the people who serve, not mock them, not belittle them, not pretend to be one of them. But here’s the twisted part: Watson sits in jail. Trump sits in the White House. And the message that sends is all wrong.
It tells troops that if they defend the Constitution, they might get punished. It tells them that if they speak up for honor and integrity, they might pay a price. It tells them that leadership at the top doesn’t have to live by the same rules. It tells them that the uniform can be cheapened by someone who never earned it.

I’m just a regular guy, but I know this much: The uniform deserves better. The oath deserves better. The people who serve deserve better.

Major Watson chose honor.
Trump chose image.
And now the rest of us have to decide which one we stand with.

And that’s why this moment matters. Because we don’t need a Commander‑in‑Chief Bones Spurs, someone who dodged the call to serve and then spent years disrespecting the people who did. We need a president who believes in integrity and sacrifice, a president who understands that the job isn’t about ego or image; it’s about representing every American, not just the ones who clap for him. We need a leader who knows that united we stand tall, but divided we are weak, and who treats our allies the same way. After 9/11, countries stood with us — not because they had to, but because they believed in us. We need a Commander‑in‑Chief who respects those friendships, not one who works to weaken the alliances that have helped keep us strong. At the end of the day, America deserves a leader who honors the uniform, honors the oath, and honors the people who carry the weight of this country on their shoulders.