A Vietnam War veteran was so moved by Donald Trump's response to the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, that he presented the former president with a Purple Heart on Friday.
The former Marine, identified only as Dwight, appeared on stage during the Republican presidential candidate's town hall event in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and presented Dwight with a “small token.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who was emceeing the event, read aloud a letter that Dwight wrote to Trump after the assassination attempt, and then presented the award to the 45th president. He directly handed over the envelope containing the .
“Dear President Trump, my wife and I breathed a sigh of relief and shed a few tears when we saw you stand up at the Butler rally,” the letter said.
“I would be honored if you would accept this little token that I received as a young Marine in Vietnam.” “My wife and I both thought it was appropriate. God bless you, your family, and the United States of America. Thank you, Dwight.”
President Trump inspected the envelope and joked that it was something else.
“Oh. It's like a check,” he joked. “It's a check. It's cash.”
Luna reveals that the envelope contains Dwight's Purple Heart, which is given to military personnel who have been wounded or killed by enemy action.
Dwight told President Trump, “I can't think of anyone more deserving of a Purple Heart.''
“You took it. You were lying there. You came back, right? And the first words out of your mouth were, 'Fight, fight, fight,'” the Vietnam veteran said. added.
President Trump, 78, was killed during a campaign rally on July 13 when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired a shot, hitting the former president in the ear, seriously injuring two people and killing one rallygoer. Died.
Mr. Crooks was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper shortly after firing.
“I didn't even have anything to fight back against him,” Dwight pointed out. “You have guts.”
“It was a minor injury, but it was close to serious injury,'' he added.
President Trump responded, “I'm very lucky.” “And maybe it wasn't that lucky. Maybe it's something else, right? Maybe there's something else.”
Dwai also revealed that the former president wrote him a “beautiful letter” and gave him a challenge coin.
“I never expected that from the president of the United States,” he said.
Trump, who is scheduled to return to Butler on Saturday for the first time since the assassination attempt, said it was a “tremendous honor” to receive the Purple Heart from Dwight.
Earlier, at a town hall, President Trump criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for the “poor” federal response to Hurricane Helen.
“Kamala should be here,” he told residents of the storm-ravaged state.
“They're being treated badly in North Carolina and we don't like it,” he added. “Then I'm going to let you know this. People aren't happy, so they have to do better.”
“This is Katrina,” President Trump said of the impact of Hurricane Helen and the administration's response. “They're doing the worst job on hurricanes that any government has ever done.”
“What a rotten job they have in North Carolina,” he continued.
Luna later suggested that the Harris-Biden administration has been slow to provide aid to states affected by Helen because “it's the red communities that are being affected.”
