Recently, Donald Trump, a Vietnam War draft dodger, denigrated the Medal of Honor, our nation’s highest award for valor in combat. He noted that a woman he presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to in 2018 received the better award because she was not shot or killed to receive it. As a proud veteran and 1963 West Point graduate with distinguished service in Vietnam, I was once again stunned by Trump’s complete lack of respect for our soldiers who take a solemn oath to defend our country and make the ultimate sacrifice. Further proof was the strongly worded message from VFW National Commander Al Lipphardt, who rebuked Trump for his misguided beliefs.

Years ago, when Trump declared that Senator John McCain was not a hero because he was captured in Vietnam, I mistakenly believed Americans would reject him as a presidential candidate. Yet Trump continues to show us that he is not worthy of being Commander in Chief. He is the same person who refused to visit American cemeteries abroad for our fallen heroes because the dead buried there were “losers” and “suckers.” Trump banned wounded veterans from appearing at his events because they looked bad. He attacked Gold Star families – those whose children were killed in combat while serving our country. Trump even wanted to execute former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley.

Suffice it to say, Trump knows nothing of duty, honor, or service to country, and has no respect for anyone who does. The world’s greatest military and our country deserve better than Trump.

During the drought, we used a lot of water and paid a high water bill.

We prayed for rain and this year we had plenty of rain, which reduced our water costs.

Then Woodway stopped bringing in as much revenue, so the city punished citizens with a price increase, which, however, will not be reduced if another drought occurs.

While I’m not a fan of it, former President Trump is right to point out, once again, the abuse of “birthright” citizenship. This loophole is exploited not only by desperate pregnant women who secretly cross the border to give birth to their child, but also by wealthy foreign women who use false pretenses to obtain tourist visas. They have no intention of sightseeing in Las Vegas or Los Alamos. Their sole purpose is to give birth to an “American” child who will likely never live in the United States but can apply for immigration on behalf of their spouse at age 18 or on behalf of their parents and siblings at age 21.

“Birth tourism” is contrasted with “sham marriages,” in which a foreigner secretly marries an American woman, always for a hefty sum. Trump’s first wife, Ivana, arranged such a marriage with an Austrian ski instructor named Alfred Winklmayr in order to get out of Czechoslovakia and move to Canada. His current wife, Melania, overstayed her tourist visa and somehow obtained an H-1B work visa as a model before marrying Trump. Finding an American spouse is also a convenient way to obtain legal permanent residency.

Economic migrants are aware that if they do not qualify for asylum, they still have a chance to find an American spouse or have an American-born child before being deported. Better yet, an administration could – as the Reagan administration did in 1986 – convince Congress to pass an amnesty bill, legalizing virtually everyone who entered illegally or overstayed their nonimmigrant visa. It is long overdue for Congress to close these loopholes.

George W. Aldridge, Belton