Duty, Honor, Country: Three Words that Trump, Hegseth & MAGA will never Comprehend

Men With No Honor Attack a Man of Honor and Integrity

General Mark Milley

During his farewell speech of 12 May 1962, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur uttered these words:

“Duty, Honor, Country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.”

This week, Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth began to attack the honor, character of former Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley. Milley’s sin was that he has enough honor and integrity to stop Trump from beginning a war with China in the final weeks of his first term, and compounding that after his retirement by publicly stating that Trump was a “Fascist to the core” and “No one has ever been as dangerous to this country as Donald Trump.” Milley considered resigning after begin used with Secretary of Defense Mark Esper for a photo op after Trump had police attack BLM protesters in Lafayette Square, and after the attempted coup of 6 January 2021 told police and military officers securing the inauguration of Joe Biden "Everyone in this room, whether you're a cop, whether you're a soldier, we're going to stop these guys to make sure we have a peaceful transfer of power. We're going to put a ring of steel around this city and the Nazis aren't getting in"

To Trump and his sycophant, completely unqualified, immoral, incompetent criminal Hegseth, this was too much. They are threatened by a man who honorably served his country for over four decades in peace and war. He was commissioned through the Army ROTC program where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1980. He served in the 7th Infantry Division, 2nd Infantry Division, 25th Infantry Division, 5th Special Forces Group where he commanded a team of Combat Divers, and his later commands included the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Division (Airborne), the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division, Deputy Commanding General of the 101st Airborne Division, Commanding General of the 10th Mountain Division, Commanding General of III Corps, and Commanding General of Army Forces Command before becoming the Army Chief of Staff and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is Special Forces and Ranger qualified. He has multiple combat tours and peace keeping or enforcement tours in Bosnia, Haiti, Iraq and Afghanistan, and his commendations include two awards of the Combat Infantry badge, four awards of the Bronze Star, and eleven awards of medals for combat service. Those do not include many other commendation medals.

Trump began publicly attacking him in 2021 and continued, on 21 January 2025 Trump had acting Defense Department leaders remove Milley’s official portrait from the walls of the Pentagon where it was placed with those of every one of his predecessors. He was also removed from an advisory committee. A DOD official said that Milley’s “ghost could not be allowed to haunt the Pentagon” and upon his confirmation Hegseth, prevented from prosecuting Milley because Joe Biden pardoned him, launched an investigation to attempt to administratively reprimand and reduce Milley from General to Lieutenant General. These are simply acts of malevolent retribution by men that have no character, integrity or honor. Neither man has accomplished anything close to General Milley. Trump is a draft dodger who used five medical deferments for “bone spurs” from his dad’s private physician to avoid serving in Vietnam, and Hegseth is a former National Guard junior officer who never commanded anything larger than a platoon, ran two veterans charities into the ground and made his name as a weekend Fox News morning show host. While General Milley fought to defend civil rights and fought against racism, Trump and Hegseth are frequent purveyors of racist statements and tropes.

My friends, that is my indictment of Trump and Hegseth, as well as my defense of General Milley’s honor, integrity and patriotism.

As for the rest of us I point your attention to the quote based on what it tells us to do in the face of tyranny today. First these three words dictate what we ought to be, can be, and “God willing” will be. They are rallying points: to build courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.

Today after less than two weeks of Trump’s unrelenting assaults on our laws, Constitution, and civil rights and liberties, many people are depressed, despairing, and overwhelmed. Many people have seen their hopes and spirits crushed by how fast and furious Trump’s actions have happened. I for one expected that it would take months for Trump to exact his revenge of his opponents, punish the American people and destabilize the security of the United States and world.

I was wrong. Despite Trump’s dictatorial actions none of should give up the fight. We must resist regardless of how hopeless the situation appears. If we give up, Trump and his army of even more radical supporters win, and this will always be Trump’s America.

Winston Churchill said on October 29th 1940 when Britain stood alone:

“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

That is where we are today. That is why men like General Mark Milley matter. He did not collaborate with a traitor and he will pay a price, perhaps even that of his life as Hegseth removed Milley’s Secret Service protection despite threats on his life from Iran and radical MAGA extremists.

We must not lose hope or surrender to Trump’s threats.

General C.Q. Brown welcomes Pete Hegseth to the Pentagon

But, likewise I cannot understand how General C.Q. Brown, successor to General Milley, the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or any or our Combatant Commanders have let these actions against General Milley go without making a public protest. Where is their moral courage? Have they no understanding of what happens when military leaders give a blind eye to the actions of dictators? Do they not comprehend the consequences of their inaction? Do they not understand the words of General Ludwig Beck who attempted to warn German military leaders of their responsibility in the face of genocidal dictatorship?

Beck warned his fellow officers when he resigned and retired rather than to be complicit in Hitler’s planned invasion of Czechoslovakia in September 1938?

Beck wrote:

“Final decisions about the nation’s existence are at stake here; history will incriminate these leaders with bloodguilt if they do not act in accordance with their specialist political knowledge and conscience. Their soldierly obedience reaches its limit when their knowledge, their conscience, and their responsibility forbid carrying out an order.”

Where are the Joint Chiefs and other high ranking military commanders and officers in this crisis?

I don’t know about you, but I am going to send General Brown and the other members of the JCS, as well as my Senators and Congressional representatives about this over the weekend. These letters will be sent by registered mail rather than by email. I will send copies to members of the media who can be trusted to ensure that the message will be sent.

We cannot surrender to Trump unless we are willing to have our rights and those of our descendants to be lived under a dictatorship. Do you want that to happen? I for one don’t. The oath that I and every other military officer states:

I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

Trump and Hegseth are domestic enemies to the Constitution who willingly cooperate with our foreign enemies against our country. In my opinion, anyone who supports them is, to use a rather old fashioned word, traitors.

So until next time, keep resisting in any manner you can and never, ever give up. Please, be safe and watch your six.