On this Veterans Day, the use of National Guard troops for domestic law enforcement, US attacks against alleged drug smugglers in international waters, and leadership purges at the Pentagon by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are raising questions about whether the military is being overtly politicized.
At the annual Marine Corps birthday celebration in Boston Friday, veterans interviewed by the Globe stressed that politics should not influence how the military is used.
“Politics has no business in war fighting. So whether you love or hate Trump, whether you love or hate Secretary Hegseth, whether you love or hate Biden or whatever, politics should never interfere,” said Patrick McMahon, 64, a combat engineer who left the service in 1984. “I mean, that’s very simple.”
Stephen Ferris, another Marine veteran at the event, concurred. “I don’t think politics and the military should ever mix,” said Ferris, 75, whose deployments ranged from Okinawa, Japan, to Vietnam and the Persian Gulf War.
Neither man commented directly on whether they think Trump’s use of the armed forces is appropriate.
Gilbert, however, was clear about Trump’s use of the military. Troop deployments to American cities, she said, should occur at the request of state and local officials, not ordered unilaterally by the president.
“That’s not democracy,” added Carolyne Richardson, a 28-year veteran of the Army Nurse Corps. Morale among active-duty soldiers is being affected as a result, said Richardson, 73, of Milton, “and some of them have left the service.”
The US Army met its recruiting goals several months early this year. Trump and Hegseth have taken credit for the strong numbers, but military analysts credit the Army’s Future Soldier Preparatory Course, started three years ago, which helps recruits who are overweight or unable to pass the military’s aptitude exam.
Trump has deployed National Guard troops this year to Los Angeles and Washington, and sought to send soldiers to Portland, Ore., and Chicago. National Guard soldiers are also patrolling in Memphis, but Tennessee Governor Mike Lee agreed to the move.
Friday, a federal judge in Oregon blocked their deployment in Portland, and an indefinite block has been placed on their use in Chicago. The Trump administration has appealed to the Supreme Court in the Chicago case.
Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn, who marched in the Veterans Day parade Saturday, agreed that National Guard troops should not be used for domestic law enforcement.
“The military is trained for overseas deployments and not for policing streets in American cities,” said Flynn, a 24-year Navy veteran. “I respect the Massachusetts National Guard and their important job. What I don’t want is to see the public turn on them.”
During the City Hall event, Craig DeOld, senior vice commander of the state Veterans of Foreign Wars, offered a nuanced response when asked about the National Guard deployments.
“It’s a touchy situation,” said DeOld, a 19-year Army veteran from South Boston, who added that the Guard needs to be “used properly and professionally, and there’s no politics behind it.”
“There’s good and bad parts,” said DeOld, 54, who retired as a captain and served in Bosnia, Iraq, Qatar, and Djibouti. “What the bad part is, is open to interpretation by every one of us.”
“From time immemorial, the military has always been a tool of politics, going back to the Roman legions and beyond,” DeOld added. However, he said, “we all raise our right hand to do the bidding of our Constitution, not any politician.”
US Representative Seth Moulton, a former Marine officer who deployed four times to Iraq, unhesitatingly denounced what he sees as blatantly political use of the armed forces.
“Secretary Hegseth wrote a book on politicizing the military, and Donald Trump treats our troops like pawns on a playing board, which I guess you would expect from someone who lied about his foot to get out of his service,” Moulton said, referencing Trump’s medical deferment during the Vietnam War, allegedly because of a bone spur.
“On one hand, I’m not surprised,” added Moulton, who is running for US Senate. “On the other hand, I recognize how dangerous this is for our democracy. Part of the definition of a dictatorship is a military controlled by one despot.”
Amid the controversial Guard deployment, and the ongoing attacks on alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean Sea and western Pacific Ocean, questions have been raised about whether troops would disobey an unlawful order.
Disobedience is required under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and orders are considered illegal if they violate the Constitution, federal law, or international human rights. Examples include firing on unarmed civilians, torture, and falsifying records.
Moulton said he believes service members take this responsibility extremely seriously, and that “my answer is always, yes,” when he is asked if soldiers would disobey an illegal command.
“We need good, smart, honorable Americans to serve immediately more than ever because you might well have to disobey an unlawful order from this commander-in-chief,” Mouton said.
Jeff Parente of Everett, an organizer for About Face: Veterans Against the War, also said he believes most US troops would not obey a clearly unlawful order.
“The problem is that these deployments, these orders, are not that clear-cut,” said Parente, a disabled Marine veteran who served in Iraq.
About Face, composed of post-9/11 service members, will hold a Veterans Day rally at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the World War II Memorial in the Back Bay Fens.
Globe Correspondent Katarina Schmeiszer contributed to this report.
Brian MacQuarrie can be reached at brian.macquarrie@globe.com.
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