he U.S. Air Force Honors Guard body bearers help conduct military funeral honors with funeral escort for U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. (ret.) Marcelite Harris in Section 30 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, Feb. 7, 2019. (Photo by Arlington National Cemetery/Flickr)
Activist and veteran Charlotte Clymer took to X to attack Donald Trump for his latest actions at Arlington National Cemetery with a detailed account of what it was like to serve in the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, nicknamed "The Old Guard."
Clymer described the importance of repeatedly practicing carrying caskets until the team could make flawless movements, which she compared to a "synchronized swimming team."
That summer, she recalled, was miserably hot in Washington, D.C., and the air conditioning went out in the barracks.
"We’d run through flag-folding drills at night in those hot barracks," she described. "We’d stand in the hallway in our casket teams, and we’d fold and fold and fold until we could do it in our sleep. It is an exacting choreography. No movement wasted or erred."
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Clymer explained that the unit members understood the importance of the moment and the role that they would play in the lives of so many families.
"Because families are flying in from all across the country for what will be one of the absolute worst days of their lives, shattered, maybe beyond repair, and all we can meagerly offer them is choreographed dignity in place of irreparable loss. Perfection will never be enough," she wrote.
Clymer called the cemetery officials with whom Trump's campaign team had an altercation the most important at Arlington.
"The truth is that the Tomb Guards had it easy, too. We all had it easy," she said. "Because the hardest job in Arlington National Cemetery doesn’t involve wearing a uniform. The hardest job is being a cemetery official who is given the impossible task of bringing comfort to families."
"Who leads on caring for the families on one of the worst days of their lives? Who plays the painful combination of clergy and therapist to the aggrieved? Who does whatever they can for the ceremonial units? Who enforces respect for that hallowed ground? Cemetery officials," she explained.
"What were Trump’s campaign staffers attempting to do that was so flagrantly in violation of this law that a cemetery official, in the midst of all their other necessary responsibilities, felt it necessary to step in and put a stop to it?" Clymer asked.
She noted that it has been only a week since Trump bashed the Medal of Honor, saying the Medal of Freedom was "better" because the former often comes with injuries or even death. It was almost four years "to the day," she said of the reports by The Atlantic quoting Gen. John Kelly saying Trump called American soldiers who died "suckers and losers." It has been eight years since Trump attacked Gold Star families, like the parents of U.S. Army Captain Humayun Kha, who were Muslim immigrants. Then there are the ongoing attacks against the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
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Clymer confessed that she "fully admit[s] to being a partisan, but for me, none of this is about politics because none of the Republicans or conservatives I have ever known would so much as consider showing anything but respect and admiration for our service members, our veterans, and their families."
She explained that entering Arlington means "politics are to be left at the gate."
"It’s not about you or me or anyone other than those buried in that ground and their loved ones who will never see them again because of their collective sacrifices," she said.
"But Donald Trump is unable to understand that because he cannot conceive of offering the highest degree of selfless service to our nation," Clymer explained. "The concept of 'all gave some, some gave all' is entirely incomprehensible to him. And therefore, he cannot extend proper respect to our military."
Arlington released a statement about the incident reinforcing the importance of not using Arlington for political campaigns. No charges were filed against the campaign staff.
The Trump campaign denies any altercation happened.