Navy Special Warfare Unit Faces Investigation for Flying Trump Flag on Military Vehicle
I can’t remember an incident like this happening before, but it is a good reminder to troops to not display partisan political advertisements on military vehicles:
Steve Thompson was on his way to pick up some feed for his goat farm Sunday morning when he noticed an impressive-looking military convoy and started filming. When he neared the lead vehicle in the convoy, the 32-year-old Shepherdsville, Ky., man noticed something else: A large blue and white Trump campaign flag.
“I just thought it was just a bunch of military vehicles,” Thompson, who was driving near Louisville at the time, told the Lexington Herald Leader . “I was surprised because I figured you wouldn’t be able to fly anything on a Humvee other than an American flag.”
The Navy has since confirmed that the convoy was from a Virginia Beach-based special warfare unit.
Thompson’s video is one of two that have been circulating on social media this week, drawing both praise and outrage, and prompting the Navy to open an investigation into the flag-flying display. One of the Facebook videos showing the convoy was viewed close to 80,000 times before it was taken down Thursday afternoon – but not before unleashing a flood of comments. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link.
Some people see Trump fanbois…
…and others see support for the Commander in Chief.
The election is over. It is no longer a political statement. It is a show of respect for the chain of command.
@Chickenhead, would you be saying the same thing if someone in the military was only waving Obama hope and change signs?
“@Chickenhead, would you be saying the same thing if someone in the military was only waving Obama hope and change signs?”
Oh hell no!
I’d be demanding an investigation into the Muslim commie infiltrators.
…though if Obama was president, the banner was his name rather than a political slogan, and there was a sensible reason (such as after the successful bin Ladin raid), it likely would not be worth a second thought.
In this case, one needs to consider if this is a political display (Trump is gonna kick all them illegals out) or a patriotic military display (support for a Commander in Chief which (for a change) supports them).
Perhaps it is prudent to not display anything which could be mistaken for a political message.
One also wants to consider the type of men and women one wants on the sharp point of the spear. Should they be required to be the same as those hired by the State Department to serve tea and cookies to objectionable people while smiling insipidly? Or do we just want warriors who love America and have the skill and motivation to kill people and break things?
I’ll bet if the flag had said ‘Clinton’, the people complaining would have been thrilled about it, and talked about how the military supports the President.
Remember, it’s only wrong if I don’t believe it. The rest of the world doesn’t matter.
@Chickenhead, the article says it was a Trump campaign flag. Looking at the picture it does appear it has the “Make America Great Slogan” on it. The military has made it clear that servicemembers should not be part of partisan political activities in uniform and this gives the perception of doing just that to all the people who do not like Trump that were driving on the road that day.
This servicemember should put the Trump flag in front of his privately owned house, not on a military owned piece of equipment.
GI,
You are coming close to selling me on this.
There are two versions of the banner (or flag). They are the same except one says “FOR PRESIDENT 2016”. That version would clearly be a political statement… especially before the election… but perhaps after, as well.
But a good case could be argued that the one displayed, which has only the name of the Commander in Chief and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, is less political and simply in line with military goals.
It is a good thing for the military to respect the CINC… and it is a very good thing they recognize America can be great again after a bit of expensive tail chasing.
But… I guess… too many people think America was never great and too many people think Trump’s vision of greatness doesn’t include enough invasive non-American’s or something…
…so it starts looking political.
Oh, well… fukk ’em. The whiners had it their way for 8 long years… flying rainbow flags and such… and accomplished nothing of note.
I realize two wrongs don’t make a right.
But… daaaaamn, it feels good to watch the outrage and see the tears.
@Chickenhead, I do agree it is interesting watching the squirming right now especially from the mainstream media who have thrown away any veneer of objective reporting since Trump’s election.
I recall back in 1993 a handful of officers getting canned for calling Clinton a no good SOB. The only one I can definitely come up with is a MG Harold Campbell who called Clinton a pot smoking draft dodger in a speech:
http://articles.latimes.com/1993-06-19/news/mn-4709_1_air-force-officials