For the last week, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of fallen Muslim American war hero Captain Humayun Khan, have had to endure outrageous smearing at the hands of Donald Trump and his surrogates. In that time, Trump and his surrogates have gone from suggesting Humayun’s mother was ordered to keep quiet to suggesting that his father is a closet Islamist at best and a Muslim Brotherhood agent at worst.
Well, one of the men who knew Captain Khan best–his former brigade commander–decided he couldn’t remain silent any longer, and decided to let Trump and his mob have it in an op-ed that will run in Thursday’s edition of The Washington Post. Retired Army major general Dana Pittard is best known as the commanding general of Fort Bliss from 2010 to 2013. However, from 2002 to 2005, he was the colonel commanding the 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division–the unit in which Humayun served.
Pittard first met Humayun in 2002, when Pittard arrived in Germany to take over the 3rd Brigade. He described Humayun as “a wonderful person, liked and respected by all who knew him.” They had a bond that went beyond the typical bond between officers. Earlier in his career, Humayun commanded the same tank platoon that Pittard had commanded in the 1980s.
By the time the brigade deployed to Iraq, Captain Khan was attached to the 201st Forward Support Battalion, which was responsible for guarding the 1st Brigade’s base at Camp Warhorse near Baqubah. He was also responsible for repairing the brigade’s relationship with local Iraqis after a number of civilian drivers were shot for disregarding posted warnings and orders from the base gate guards.
Pittard recalls when Captain Khan was blown up by an IED on June 8, 2004. A taxicab was rolling toward the gates behind a number of Iraqi civilian base workers, and was coming too fast. Let’s let Pittard tell you what happened next.
“Humayun probably moved toward the suspicious vehicle to avoid killing the driver unnecessarily, but at some point, he concluded that something was wrong and ordered his men to hit the dirt. The driver detonated his car bomb, killing Humayun and two Iraqi citizens. Humayun died trying to save the lives of innocent Iraqis. His brave effort to approach the vehicle probably saved American lives as well.”
To Pittard, Humayun wasn’t just a Muslim-American soldier, but “a member of our team–of our family.” He was one of 37 officers and (wo)men killed in Iraq while the 3rd Brigade was deployed there. Pittard said these fallen troops “represented sacrifice, service, duty and the essence of what makes our country great.” They were the embodiment of the 3rd Brigade’s motto, “No mission too difficult. No sacrifice too great. Duty First!”
Although Pittard never calls Trump by name, he has a very sobering message for him.
“I join all those who stand in support of the Khan family. This family is our family, and any attack on this wonderful American Gold Star family is an attack on all patriotic and loyal Americans who have sacrificed to make our country great. Any politically or racially motivated attack on the Khans is despicable and un-American.”
Pittard says that he is a registered Republican, following a tradition dating back to the 1920s. However, he says, “I have voted my conscience” at every election–and he intends to do so again this year. He then makes it clear where his conscience is leaning.
“We live in a dangerous and complex world. We need leaders who are steady, patient and empathetic, especially at the national level, during this troubled time. We need somebody who has respect for our Gold Star families.”
In other words–everything Trump isn’t.
Pittard told The Daily Beast that he felt compelled to speak out after seeing Trump and his surrogates slime Khizr and Ghazala. He believes that Trump either doesn’t know or doesn’t understand how high a place Gold Star families have in the military. As Pittard puts it in The Post, the Army treats Gold Star families with “absolute reverence.”
However, you don’t need to have been in uniform to appreciate the sacrifice the Khans made. If Trump doesn’t have the decency or the empathy to understand it, chalk up more evidence that he is not fit to be commander-in-chief.
