The Silence After the Salute

The same government that orders troops to patrol U.S. streets now cuts their healthcare, mental health support, and food assistance. Gratitude has become exploitation.

Guest article by Michael Cohen. Remember to follow him on Substack for more by clicking here. Michael is also racing to 500K followers on YouTube! Subscribe today for free here.

Veterans Day used to mean something. It used to be a solemn, sacred moment to pause and reflect on the extraordinary courage of the men and women who have worn our nation’s uniform—the people who’ve carried the weight of our wars, our mistakes, and our freedoms on their backs. Today, it feels like a hollow ritual; a flag waved in one hand while the other signs away the very benefits that help those same heroes survive once the parades are over.

This administration loves to wrap itself in the flag but spits on the people who’ve defended it. It talks about “law and order,” but tramples the very ideals that veterans swore an oath to protect: democracy, decency, and the Constitution. On this Veterans Day, as we’re urged to thank our service members, President Trump and his cronies are busy slashing the programs that help veterans live with dignity—cutting food assistance through SNAP, restricting healthcare access, and gutting mental health resources for those who already sacrificed enough.

Let me say it plainly: this administration doesn’t support our troops; it exploits them.

Take what’s happening right now across the country. Trump has been deploying the National Guard to Democratic-led cities under the guise of “protecting federal property.” But listen to what the troops themselves are saying. In an encrypted group chat, members of the Ohio National Guard are expressing something you won’t hear on Fox News: fear, disgust, and disillusionment. These are not left-wing activists; they’re soldiers who took an oath to defend the Constitution, not serve as Trump’s personal police force.

“I really went to a dark place when they sent the troops to L.A., then D.C., and now Chicago,” one Guard member said. “This is not what any of us signed up for.”

Imagine being that soldier—having once deployed to help after a hurricane or deliver food to families in crisis, now ordered to patrol American streets not to protect civilians but to intimidate them. Another Guard member put it bluntly: “You want me to go pick up trash and dissuade homeless people in D.C. at gunpoint? No, dude.”

These are the people Trump claims to “love.” And yet, when their conscience conflicts with his authoritarian impulses, they’re treated like traitors.

Let’s not forget: this is the same administration that floated using the National Guard to carry out mass deportations—a direct violation of U.S. law. It’s the same president who mocked the late John McCain, saying he preferred soldiers “who weren’t captured.” The same man who reportedly called America’s war dead “suckers” and “losers.” Now, he’s weaponizing the Guard against our own citizens while simultaneously gutting the safety nets veterans rely on once they come home.

I know the man. Veterans are useful to him as props—photo ops in camouflage, applause lines at rallies, campaign wallpaper. But behind closed doors, their loyalty is assumed and their needs dismissed. There’s no empathy, no gratitude, no understanding of what it means to serve something larger than yourself.

Meanwhile, organizations like About Face—a group of post-9/11 veterans—are receiving desperate messages from active-duty troops who are questioning the morality of their orders. Over a hundred in just recent weeks. These are people wrestling with their conscience, asking the question Trump never has: At what point do we cross the line?

One veteran put it perfectly: “I swore an oath to the Constitution, not a person.”

That oath—the promise to protect democracy, not power—is being tested like never before. And the moral burden falls on those who actually understand what service means.

Now here’s the ugly truth: while Trump parades soldiers like political mascots, his administration is bleeding them dry. SNAP cuts hit low-income veterans harder than almost any group in the country. Over a million rely on it. Healthcare programs are being trimmed, mental health resources stretched to the breaking point, and the VA is under relentless pressure to privatize—turning the care of those who served into another profit center for Trump’s donor class.

And yet, on this Veterans Day, we’ll see the photo ops. Trump will salute the flag he’s desecrated. He’ll call veterans “patriots” while dismantling the very systems that honor their sacrifice.

Let’s be honest: sending the National Guard into American cities isn’t patriotism; it’s authoritarian theater. It’s not “defending freedom.” It’s conditioning the public to accept troops in the streets. It’s Afghanistan tactics turned inward. As one veteran in that Ohio group chat said, “In Afghanistan, we used to do presence patrols—just walking around to remind people we were there, watching.”

That’s what Trump wants here. Not freedom—control.

So today, when you thank a veteran, mean it. Don’t just say the words. Fight for the country they thought they were defending. Fight for their healthcare, their benefits, their dignity. Stand with them when they question unjust orders.

Because while this administration treats them as pawns, they remain our last line of defense—not against foreign enemies, but against the corrosion of our own democracy.

This Veterans Day, the question isn’t whether we’ll honor their service. It’s whether we’ll be worthy of it.

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