The unadulterated feeling and profound influence of the Gold Star families’ appearances at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday were hard to miss.
Hardline leftists managed to trash the 20-minute ceremony that paid tribute to US servicemen who lost their lives in the 2021 ISIS-K attack on the Kabul airport in Afghanistan. Not even MSNBC could have bothered to run a segment about it.
However, it moved several viewers to tears. Terry Moran, a journalist for ABC News, summarized it as something he had never seen.
“David, I don’t think I’ve ever gone through something like that at a conference,” he said on Wednesday after the relatives of the dead military personnel made an appearance.
“Observe our countenances. See our suffering and heartache. And observe our fury. “The pullout from Afghanistan was not a very successful endeavor,” stated Cheryl Juels, the aunt of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee, on stage. “There is a debt of appreciation and an apology owed by Joe Biden to the men and women who fought in Afghanistan.”
Former President Donald Trump was among the audience members at the RNC, and Moran observed a “connection” between the families and them.
Grieving families and mourners had a special bond. At the end of the presentation, Moran expressed, “The audience initiated a spontaneous emotional response, ‘never forget’, by reciting and repeating the names read out.”
Herman and Alicia Lopez, whose son died, and Marine Corporal Hunter Lopez, called out the names of the deceased, and the assembly responded by reciting each name out loud.
There was more than just sympathy and grief that united the audience and the speakers. According to Moran, it was a rage.
ABC's @TerryMoran on the Gold Star families at #RNC2024: "David, I'm not sure I've ever experienced anything like that at a convention. The connection between this crowd and those family members of the fallen. It was just absolutely extraordinary. The emotions, the call and… pic.twitter.com/Nr8pTUT6mu
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 18, 2024
“I’ve been out here this afternoon talking to veterans, and without prompting, they bring up Afghanistan,” he recalled. “And the sense of anger that they felt for the country and — and in this campaign.” They included veterans from the Vietnam War, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
