It was a show, an election campaign kick-off, no question. But it was a good show, with some very emotional moments. US President Donald Trump’s team “incorporated” some military highlights into his State of the Union speech yesterday. For example, during the conversation (from minute 28:15), Trump mentions the new “US Space Force” to a 13-year-old in the Congress gallery who wants to become an astronaut.
But the real highlight is behind the young man, his great-grandfather is the last surviving pilot of the famous “Tuskegee Airmen” (“Red Tails”), who – after great resistance in the army establishment – were the first colored (fighter) pilots of the US Air Force to be deployed from 1943. First with Curtiss P-40s in North Africa and then with P-51Bs and -Ds as bomber escorts from Italy and thus also frequently over Austria. Trump had previously appointed Col. Charles E. McGee (born on December 7, 1919) as a brigadier general in the Oval Office. Last September, the new USAF T-7A jet trainer was christened “Red Hawk” by Boeing/Saab (also in the presence of Charles McGee) in honor of those “Tuskegee Airmen”. The reunion of a soldier’s wife with two small children with her husband, who had been brought home from his fourth tour in Afghanistan, was also well staged in the media at the congress gallery (from minute 1:15:15). With this, Trump made clear his plan, announced some time ago, to bring US troops home from the “endless wars” in the Middle East and Central Asia. Postscript: The fact that immediately afterwards Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi tore up Trump’s speech text in front of the cameras and the Democrats demonstratively remained seated on “patriotic” topics such as the military or terrorism, but also on health or labor market issues, was also interpreted by liberal commentators on most channels as a serious mistake at the start of the election year.
