Trump draws intense flak for receiving ‘Purple Heart’ from Vietnam War veteran: ‘An unforgivable insult’

Donald Trump received a Purple Heart medal from a Vietnam War veteran on stage at a campaign event on Friday, despite being known for avoiding military duty himself.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump accepts talks with a veteran identified as Dwight that gave Trump his purple heart after Trump was shot in Pennsylvania at a town hall event in Fayetteville, N.C., Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)(AP)

The GOP presidential candidate has been dubbed “disgusting” and “disrespectful” for taking the medal, which was awarded to him for his handling of the July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna read a letter from the veteran, Dwight, to Trump during their meeting in the Fayetteville, North Carolina town hall.

“Dear President Trump, watching you during the Butler rally and you getting back up, both my wife and I gave a sigh of relief as well as a few tears. I would be honored if you would accept this small token I received as a young marine in Vietnam. My wife and I both thought it appropriate.”

Here’s how Trump reacted on getting Purple Heart honour

Luna explained to the crowd that Dwight has given his Purple Heart to Trump. In response to announcement, Trump quipped, “Looks like a check. It’s a check, it’s cash!”

On stage, Dwight expressed his admiration for Trump’s response to the assassination attempt during Butler rally, saying he “couldn’t think of anyone more deserving” of the medal.

“You accepted it. There, you had a nap. You returned. And you said “fight, fight, fight” as your first words,” the veteran remarked.

Trump declared himself to be “very lucky” and restated his prior assertion that he was kept alive by a higher force. “Maybe it wasn’t so much luck. Maybe it is something else, right?” he asserted.

Trump under fire for receiving Purple Heart: ‘Beyond disgusting’

Notably, Trump avoided serving in the military five times: once due to a medical disqualification stemming from a bone spur in one of his heels, and then four more times due to academic concerns.

The Purple Heart medal is awarded to service personnel who have made significant sacrifices for the US military in times of war, and Trump’s detractors have called him “disrespectful” for this fact.

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“When I was in Iraq, I remember a soldier being awarded a purple heart as he lay unconscious at the base hospital,” Ted Cocoran, a disabled veteran, wrote on X. “It was placed on his chest before he made his way to Germany. He died before making it back stateside. This is beyond disrespectful.”

“My son EARNED his Purple Heart in an Afghani barracks bombing,” remarked another X user, adding that “This mocks his service and it is AN UNFORGIVABLE INSULT.”

“Beyond disgusting,” a third user commented.

It wasn’t the first time that Trump received a Purple Heart before. Earlier, an ardent supporter and retired lieutenant colonel bestowed the medal upon him during a rally in Ashburn, Virginia, in 2016.