Veteran Raises Nearly $65K To Send Trump To Iraq To Get A Purple Heart

Veteran launches Help Trump Get a Purple Heart campaign to raise money for the targets of Trump’s hatred and ignorance.

Republican nominee Donald Trump received a Purple Heart last week without ever setting foot on a battleground when retired Lt. Col. Louis Dorfman handed him his own Purple Heart at a rally in Ashburn, Virginia.

Disabled veteran and Purple Heart recipient Cameron Kerr decided to hit back at Trump by creating a GoFundMe campaign to raise “money for the targets of his hatred and ignorance,” as detailed by the campaign and its corresponding Facebook page, Donald Trump’s Metaphorical Swear Jar.

Kerr writes on the campaign:”On 2 August 2016, a veteran handed Donald Trump a Purple Heart medal at one of his rallies in Virginia. Making light of a military decoration awarded to combat-wounded service members just days after attacking a fallen soldier’s family, Trump remarked ‘I’ve always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier.'”

As with seemingly everything else in his life, Mr. Trump got one handed to him instead of earning it. That being said, as a Purple Heart recipient [proof ]who earned one the old-fashioned way by returning from Afghanistan one leg lighter, I fully endorse his desire to earn one and would happily oblige his interest in doing so, by being one of the first to chip in to fly him to the conflict zone of his choosing. After all, you’re never too old to follow your dreams.

GoFundMe to help Trump get a Purple Heart (http://www.gofundme.com/PH4Trump)

“Ok, let’s be serious,” Kerr continues, explaining that “We’re not going to be able to help Donald realize his conveniently retroactive military fantasies, and based on precedent he could likely get a series of deferments to avoid going even if we tried. So instead, we’re going to convert his toxic bigotry, ignorance, and callousness into something positive.”

What better way to do that than to redirect money to a good cause that Donald Trump would vehemently oppose: aiding Syrian refugees. All money actually raised will be distributed to vetted groups working directly with Syrian refugees as well as refugees of similar conflict zones – the decent fellow humans who were unfortunate enough to be in one of these regions when everything around them collapsed, and whom Trump has broadly categorized as likely terrorists unworthy of resettlement.

The campaign has raised nearly the full goal of $65K and Kerr goes on to explain that “the funds will be split between three organizations with different specialties.”

1/3 of it will go to the International Rescue Committee, which is one of the nine voluntary agencies (VOLAGs) that work directly with the admitting/screening U.S. government agencies to help refugees “move in” and establish their new lives, while at the same time helping them become self-sufficient and well-integrated members of their community.
1/3 of it will go to the Syrian American Medical Society, which is comprised of medical professionals of Syrian descent offering a wide range of medical services to Syrians in need, both inside and outside of Syria. In addition to providing medical care themselves, they also help to “teach a man to fish” by providing instruction to Syrian medical professionals.
1/3 of it will go to Refugees Welcome International, essentially an “AirBnB for refugees” that engages our European and Canadian friends whose governments allow private refugee sponsorship (something the U.S. does not yet do). Because so much of the spirit of this fundraiser is centered around a unified global outlook (we’re all fellow homo sapiens, sitting on a rock hurtling through space together), I figured we could help our European and Canadian allies demonstrate the efficacy of private sponsorship.

Anyone interested in donation can do so by clicking here to go the GoFundMe campaign, Help Trump Get A Purple Heart.

#PurpleTrumpsOrange is now the official hashtag for this fundraiser (credit to Ollie Mastrangelo) for anyone interested in engaging with, or promoting, the campaign via social media.

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