Latest / THE DAILY BRIEF / 'Inappropriate place for a triumphal monument' Veteran slams Trump's 250-foot arch

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'Inappropriate place for a triumphal monument' Veteran slams Trump's 250-foot arch · THE DAILY BRIEF

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Among the president's proposed vanity projects, one sticks out like
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: a pretty sore thumb. That's the 250-foot arch that would
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: sit in the middle of a traffic circle right behind
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the Lincoln Memorial, blocking the view from Arlington National Cemetery,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: a view that is meant to symbolize national unity, reconciliation
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: after the Civil War. Today, protesters rallied at that proposed
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: site just weeks after the president announced it would also
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: be used as a military complex. He wants it to
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: have snipers and drones and ammunition. Again, right in the
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: middle of a traffic circle. The Washington Post reports that
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: the Trump administration, the officials there, were unaware of the
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: military conversion, the plans for this arch. Among those protesters
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: were veterans who have filed a lawsuit to stop the construction.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: The president says he's building this arch for veterans and
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: for our 200th anniversary. Did he consult with Congress?
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: No.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: Did he consult with veterans?
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: No.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: It's the wrong monument in the wrong place at the
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: wrong time, dedicated to the wrong man.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: I'm joined now by retired U.S. Army Colonel Gary Langston, Jr.,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: a 29-year Army veteran who spoke at the rally this morning. You,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: I should note, are not part of the lawsuit, but
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: your opinions you made pretty clear in your remarks today.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Thank you for coming to be with us, Colonel, and
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: thank you for your service today. You just heard from
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: one of those veterans there. It's the wrong monument, the
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: wrong place and honoring the wrong man. Why are you
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: so opposed to this arch?
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: So exactly. And I've been encouraged both by John Gunderson
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: and Congressman Beyer to speak out as a veteran, as a.
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: A veteran whose parents are buried at Arlington.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: Your parents buried together in Section 66.
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: That's right. That arch is so big, so tall, that
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: it will be viewable from many sections within the cemetery,
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: especially in winter. I bring that out because my parents
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: were buried on a day where the federal government was closed.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: It was March.
• 2:04
  Speaker 4: It was 19 degrees. There was blowing snow everywhere. And
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: there was nothing happening in the cemetery except funerals as usual.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: There's almost 30 funerals a day still that happen in
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: Arlington National Cemetery.
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: That's right. If you go there in the morning, if
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: you go in the morning at 8 o'clock, they're likely
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: to be five or six funerals simultaneously, all spaced out
• 2:23
  Speaker 4: different parts of the cemetery. So there's an element of
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: privacy to it. And it's just very solemn. And that
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: whole entryway... into Arlington Cemetery is you go into just
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: an emotional, solemn experience.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: So what message does this proposed arch send to those
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: who served like you and those who sacrificed?
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: I really think about the draft class. So the Vietnam veterans,
• 2:49
  Speaker 4: my father was a Vietnam veteran, the folks that were
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: drafted If you think about an honor flight today, it
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: used to be World War II veterans coming to D.C.
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: Now it's Vietnam. For the most part, it's the last
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: class of draftees coming in. And they come in and experience,
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: they go to the wall, but then this arch would
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: interrupt that solemnity and that emotional experience with something triumphal.
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: So regardless of your politics, this should not be a
• 3:20
  Speaker 4: partisan thing. It's just an inappropriate place for a triumphal monument.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: Well, not just a triumphal monument. The president has now
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: said he wants drones and snipers and a weapons depot
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: right behind the Lincoln Memorial. Is there any world that
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: I don't know of, you're a military veteran, where that
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: would be necessary?
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: It doesn't make a lot of sense when Arlington Cemetery
• 3:37
  Speaker 4: sits right next to Fort Myer and Henderson Hall and
• 3:40
  Speaker 4: other locations.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: What does the president, in your view, Colonel, miss about
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: public service?
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: It's that everyone, everyone who serves should be respected for
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: that service. regardless of political party, regardless of loyalty, it's
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: an oath to the Constitution. It's an oath, it's a
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: preservation of democracy. And to build an arch in an
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: undemocratic process without the consent of Congress, That's a law
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: that President Reagan signed to not mess with the National
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: Mall without assurances that the decent American people are behind it.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: What would this do to the National Mall, which is
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: one of the most celebrated places in this country?
• 4:32
  Speaker 4: It changes the skyline. It changes the tone.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: 250 feet tall is way taller than the Lincoln Memorial
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: by at least twice, I think.
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: It's also more than twice as high as the highest
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: point in Arlington Cemetery. So if you stand at Arlington House,
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: where Pierre L'Enfant's grave is... you would be looking up,
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: even more looking up from the Kennedy gravesite. So it's
• 4:55
  Speaker 4: as if there's this monument to President Trump in between
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: the Kennedy gravesite and now the Kennedy Center that he's
• 5:03
  Speaker 4: threatening to demolish.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: Let me ask you, I was playing some of the
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: sound earlier of Pete Hegseth and what they call the
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: state of the force remarks that he made yesterday. He
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: said his language, no fatties. no beardos, no weirdos. He
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: used a trans slur, all of this to describe the
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: people not welcome in the military. Sir, how do you
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: assess his leadership of the Department of Defense?
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: I would just say he also said diversity is not
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: our strength. Unity is our strength. Well, that is, first
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: of all, a false choice. Secondly, that is eliminating the
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: a significant percentage of the population of Americans who have
• 5:46
  Speaker 4: served and would like to serve. So I was in
• 5:50
  Speaker 4: for 29 years, starting in 1983. So I lived through
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: Don't Ask, Don't Tell. I lived through lots of changes.
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: I'm sorry, being diverse is not being woke. These are
• 6:03
  Speaker 4: patriotic folks who are willing to serve and bless them
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: if they are, regardless of There's a role in public
• 6:15
  Speaker 4: service for every American in some way.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: You served in the Army for 29 years.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: I did.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: One day, I presume, you would be buried at Arlington
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: National Cemetery. Yes, if, yes.
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: However, there's an important investment that needs to be made,
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: which is Arlington Cemetery is going to run out of
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: space one day. So what I tell folks is, Well,
• 6:38
  Speaker 4: that's the plan, but I also hope to outlive the capacity.
• 6:41
  Speaker 4: And so there's a real need for other national cemeteries
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: to be brought up to the standard of care that
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: is at Arlington. That would be a bigger, better long-term investment.
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: We appreciate you spending time, and we appreciate your service.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: Colonel Gary Langston, pleasure to be with you.
• 6:57
  Speaker 4: Thanks so much.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: Thank you for being here. Hey, it's Rachel.
• 7:01
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• 7:03
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• 7:26
  Speaker 4: Thanks.