‘The MS St. Louis was a ship [holding] primarily Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany in 1939.  So this is after Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass, when some folks saw the writing on the wall and thought: ‘I have to get out of here to be safe.’  These were folks who booked tickets; they had applied for visas to the United States, and the ship was going to go from Germany via Cuba to the United States, thereafter. The Cuban government held their documents on the way from Germany to Cuba, which basically stranded everyone on the ship.  Even though these people had applied for visas, the United States would not grant them entry.  The ship afterward went from port to port in Europe [dropping off the passengers].’

‘Approximately half of these refugees [among the 620 who were returned to continental Europe] ended up being murdered by the Nazi death machine over the course of the war.’   Russel Neiss   The Atlantic

‘The Vietnam War saw the highest proportion of blacks ever to serve in an American war.  During the height of U.S. involvement, 1965-69, blacks, who formed 11 percent of the American population, made up 12.6 percent of the soldiers in Vietnam.  The majority of these were in the infantry, and although authorities differ on the figures, the percentage of black combat fatalities in that period was a staggering 14.9 percent..’   John Sibley Butler   Modern American Poetry

I watched the Nightly News with Walter Cronkite…nightly…when I was in grammar school and high school  There was a running death toll…every night…and it was surreal.

9/11, devastated our Nation.

We went to war in Afghanistan…and sought Osama bin Laden…he was the mastermind of the attack…and our best intelligence told us that he was hiding in there.

After that…we went to war…to finish the job…that was not finished by President Bush…senior.

As President Bush…junior…said…’Saddam Hussein tried to kill my father.’

We found Saddam…we did not find Osama.

I worked with several young men…who suffered with PTSD…from the War in Iraq.

Now, we face an imminent threat…that if the wrong decision is made…could yield the most terrible carnage and death…in modern history.

The concern…is world wide…if a rash decision…or a petulant or uninformed or unstable decision is made.

‘During the final stage of World War II, the United States dropped nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively.  The United States had dropped the bombs with the consent of he United Kingdom as outlined in the Quebec Agreement.  The two bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history.’   Wikipedia

‘President Donald Trump said he wanted what amounted to a nearly tenfold increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal during a gathering this past summer of the nation’s highest-ranking national security leaders, according to three officials who are in the room.’   NBC News

‘The July 20 meeting was described as a lengthy and sometimes tense review of worldwide U.S. forces and operations.  it was soon after the meeting broke up that officials who remained behind heard Tillerson say that Trump is a ‘moron.’  NBC News

Republican Sen. Bob Corker runs the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is widely seen as a moderate and sober voice on national security issues, and has won the respect of both Democrats and Republicans for his handling of thorny issues like Iran and Russia.’

‘He is now warning that President Donald Trump is setting the US on a potential ‘path to World War III.’     Vox

‘First they came for the Communist

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the Trade Unionist

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Trade Unionist

Then they came for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me

And there was no one left

To speak out for me,

First They Came – Pastor Martin Niemoller

Is the only news…that is true…the news that our President tells us?