Holocaust survivor organizes military brass support for Trump

The letter earned 88 total signatories from former military figures.

By MICHAEL WILNER
Updated: SEPTEMBER 8, 2016 07:15
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
WASHINGTON – A former US major-general and Holocaust survivor organized an endorsement letter of Donald Trump’s bid for president this week that earned signatures from 87 of his peers.
Sidney Shachnow, who escaped a Nazi concentration camp in Lithuania to ultimately serve in the US military for 40 years, was joined by three former generals, nine former lieutenant generals and one former admiral, along with dozens of lower-ranked military figures, in publicly supporting the candidate.
These signatories see in Trump’s candidacy the chance for a “long-overdue course correction in our national security posture,” Shachnow’s letter states.
“Enemies of this country have been emboldened, sensing weakness and irresolution in Washington and opportunities for aggression at our expense and that of other freedom- loving nations,” the letter reads. “In our professional judgment, the combined effect is potentially extremely perilous.
That is especially the case if our government persists in the practices that have brought us to this present pass.”
“For this reason,” it continues, “we support Donald Trump and his commitment to rebuild our military, to secure our borders, to defeat our Islamic supremacist adversaries and restore law and order domestically.”
The letter, organized jointly by Shachnow and R.-Adm. (ret.) Charles Williams, was released by the Trump campaign ahead of a week of events meant to focus the candidate’s message on national security.
One campaign surrogate said the letter counterbalances an anti-Trump letter released last month, in which 50 high-level former Republican national security officials declared opposition to the GOP nominee, who would be, it read, “the most reckless president in American history” if elected.
On Wednesday, Clinton announced a list of 95 endorsements from military brass.
The list includes several more high-ranking officials than were featured on Trump’s list.