Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth‘s denial of the harsh conditions Navy personnel are facing in the Iran war has sparked a massive backlash from their families. Family members of the deployed soldiers have slammed Trump’s administration for their insensitive remarks, all the while painting a brutal picture of the adversities faced by those involved in the Middle Eastern campaign.
Navy families are calling out Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth after recent comments
Families of naval officers serving in the Iran war are calling out the US government for its mismanagement of the soldiers posted abroad. The response comes after both Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth undermined the military’s struggles on foreign soil.
A mother of a young soldier serving with the USS Abraham Lincoln told The Guardian, “They are not feeding him or supplying clean water, and living conditions are horrible.”
Meanwhile, the sister of a Lincoln crew member revealed that her brother had lost 20lbs since his deployment. “They’re making the ultimate sacrifice and protecting their country, and now you have the commander-in-chief and defense secretary dismissing their experiences and calling them liars. I’m really angry. It’s a feeling of betrayal. These are frustrating, false, and careless comments,” she remarked.
The sister highlighted texts from her brother where he complained of the quality of water on the vessel. In his message, the sailor also spoke of the limited mental health services available to the soldiers. “Our deployment resilience counsellor quit months ago. To see the ONLY PSYCHIATRIST is a five-week wait unless you do like three of our shipmates and jump off the ship or take 27 sleeping pills,” he wrote.
Similarly, the mother of a sailor on board the USS Tripoli claimed that her son had lost 30lbs during the mission. “He’s emaciated,” she said. “This is so insane – he didn’t deserve this. When I saw that photo, I was livid. It should not have gotten this far.”
She further exclaimed, “You cannot keep extending deployments, grinding down crews, and gaslighting families without destroying trust in the institution and its leaders,” adding, “If they’re losing weight, that means you’re starving them.”
Notably, the Lincoln and the Tripoli have been actively deployed at sea for nearly nine and five months, respectively.
