Stayed a little back, a little off the front lines
"Donald Trump never served in Vietnam; he received five draft deferments that prevented him from being conscripted. In an interview with Fox News in early 2026, Trump criticized the contribution of America's allies in the Afghanistan conflict, stating: "They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan… and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines".These remarks sparked widespread condemnation from British veterans and politicians, who pointed to the 457 British personnel who died in the conflict as proof that they were indeed on the front lines. Donald Trump’s Vietnam War Record Trump himself did not see combat or serve in the military during the Vietnam era: Draft Deferments: He received five deferments: four for being a college student and one for a medical diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels."Personal Vietnam": In a 1997 interview with Howard Stern, Trump controversially compared the risks of dating and avoiding sexually transmitted diseases to the dangers of the Vietnam War, calling it his "personal Vietnam" and stating he felt like a "brave soldier" for navigating the dating scene.Lottery Number: While Trump has frequently claimed his high draft lottery number (356) kept him out of the war, records show he had already received his medical exemption over a year before the 1969 lottery took place.""Casualties: Over 3,400 NATO-led coalition troops died during the conflict, including approximately 1,100 non-U.S. personnel from allies such as the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Denmark.Intense Fighting Zones: British and Canadian forces, in particular, were responsible for some of the most dangerous frontline regions, including Helmand and Kandahar provinces, which were heartlands of the Taliban insurgency.Highest Per Capita Losses: Denmark and Estonia suffered significant casualty rates, with Denmark experiencing the highest number of combat deaths per capita of any coalition member.Article 5 Invocation: The mission in Afghanistan remains the only time in history that NATO’s collective defense clause (Article 5) was invoked, specifically to support the United States following the 9/11 attacks."------------------"Research suggests that for post-9/11 veterans, the number of suicides (estimated at 30,177 between 2001–2021) is roughly four times higher than the number of personnel killed in action (7,057) during the same period."
David Ainsworth ● 281d4 Comments ● 281d