Khizr Khan receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom

President Biden places on the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Khizr Khan.

No one knew what was about to happen when Khizr Khan was first introduced at the Democratic Convention in 2015. No on knew he would one day receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The 71-year old Pakistani American patriot was one of 17 Americans who received the honor Friday, July 7.

“I was humbled when I was informed that I am the recipient of this highest civilian recognition of this nation,” Khan said in a Daily Progress interview prior to getting his medal. “My life has been a testament to the goodness of this country, to the foundational values of equality, dignity and diversity that are at the foundation of this country.”

As a Gold Medal father who had spoken about patriotism and against the war in Iraq after the loss of his son, he was invited to speak at the 2016 Democratic Convention by the Hillary Clinton campaign. What happened is now a part of political history.

Conventioneers were busy running around lobbying for votes. Khan began his emotion-filled speech and heads turned to the stage. He delivered a short speech that rocked the convention and reverberated across America.

As attention turned to the podium, Khan's voice slightly quivering from nerves, got stronger as he went on.

“Donald Trump, you are asking Americans to trust you with our their future. Let me ask you: Have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy,” Khan said, reaching inside his jacket and began waving the booklet about the Constitution in the air. “In this document, look for the words ‘liberty’ and ‘equal protection of law.’

By now, the whole convention hall was paying attention to Khan, who came to America in 1980 after living in the United Arab Emirates.

“Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending the United States of America – you will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one.”

Since that seminal moment, he has become a celebrity and advocate and defender of democracy. He founded the Constitution Literacy and National Unity Center and is a prominent advocate for the rule of law and religious freedom . President Biden appointed him to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.

The Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.

Also receiving this country’s highest civilian honor  are Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and the late U.S. Sen. John McCain. The award is given to those who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values or security of the United States, world peace or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.

“The Fourth of July week reminds us what brought us together long ago and still binds us — binds us at our best, what we strive for,” Biden said. “We the people, doing what we can to ensure that the idea of America, the cause of freedom, shines like the sun to light up the future of the world.

“This is America,” he said, gesturing to the stage full of award winners.

“These seventeen Americans demonstrate the power of possibilities and embody the soul of the nation – hard work, perseverance, and faith,” the White House said in a statement.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

AAPI blast Trump's disparagement of U.S. veterans, POWs and war-dead

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth at the WWII Memmorial in Washington D.C.

United States Senator Tammy Duckworth lambasts Donald Trump's calling America's military war dead and wounded as "losers" and "suckers."

In a bombshell article published in The Atlantic, Trump also allegedly requested amputees not be included in plans for a Washington D.C. military parade because, in his words, “nobody wants to see that.”

Trump also requested amputees not be included in plans for a military parade because, in his words, “nobody wants to see that.”

Duckworth, who lost both legs while serving in Iraq as a helicopter pilot, said: “I’ll take my wheelchair and my titanium legs over his bone spurs any day,” referring to the minor ailment Trump used multiple times to obtain a medical deferment from being drafted during the Vietnam War.

During a conference call arranged by the campaign staff of Democratic POTUS nominee Joe Biden, Thai American Duckworth continued to hit Trump hard for the comments he made as reported in The Atlantic article, which has been verified by multiple media outlets since it was first published.

“This is a man who spends every day redefining the concept of narcissism. A man who’s met a life of privilege, with everything handed to him on a silver platter,” said Duckworth.

“Of course he thinks about war selfishly,” said the Illinois senator. “He thinks of it as a transactional cost instead of in human lives and American blood spilled, because that’s how he’s viewed his whole life. He doesn’t understand other people’s bravery and courage because he’s never had any of his own.”

On Twitter, Duckworth continued her relentless attack on Trump, who on numerous occasions she has referred to as "Cadet Bonespurs," and "Coward-in-chief." 

“What @realDonaldTrump will never understand is that our Wounded Warriors earned their wounds. They are our badges of honor from our service to the country we love. If he can’t bear to witness those who have sacrificed for our nation, perhaps he should avert his cowardly eyes,” she tweeted.

Also taking part in the conference call was Khizr Khan, father of the late Captain H. Khan, who was killed while serving in the U.S Army in Iraq.

“Words matter," said Khan, who was attacked by Trump for his rousing speech during the 2016 Democratic National Convention. "The words we say are a window into our souls — of how we see the world and our place in it. 

“When Donald Trump calls anyone who places their life in service of others a ‘loser,’ we understand Trump’s soul.”

Trump, said Khan, is “incapable of understanding service, valor and courage. His soul cannot conceive of integrity and honor. And let me say very loudly and clearly so America can listen: His soul is that of a coward.”

Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, also author of the article, reported that Trump called the soldiers who died during World War I “losers” and “suckers”, while canceling a 2018 visit to a cemetery of U.S. war dead in France. Trump claimed the cancellation was due to the inclement weather, which did not prevent other French and foreign dignitaries from appearing at the memorial.

In a Friday press conference, Democratic rival Joe Biden said, "if what is written in the Atlantic is true, it’s disgusting and it affirms what most of us believe to be true – that Donald Trump is not fit to do the job of president, be the commander-in-chief."

"If these statements are true, the president should humbly apologize to every Gold Star mother and father and every Blue Star family that he’s denigrated," Biden said.

Other vignettes included in The Atlantic article:

• Trump also allegedly told his senior staff “we’re not going to support that loser’s funeral” after U.S. Sen. John McCain died before calling him “a f-ing loser,” a which he repeated in a televised interview. 
• He also mocked former President George H.W. Bush for being shot down while piloting combat missions during World War II.
• At a 2017 service at Arlington National Cemetery, Trump told former chief of staff John Kelly, whose son Robert died in 2010 at age 29 while serving as a Marine Corps officer in Afghanistan, turned to Kelly, while standing by Robert Kelly’s grave, and said, “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”

Not surprisingly, Trump has called The Atlantic article "fake news," a "hoax" and a "continuation of the witch hunt,” according to Politico.

Meanwhile, White House staff has scrambled issuing denials, but at this point, with the number of falsehoods, misleading statements and outright lies emanating from administration officials and staff, their credibility is almost zero.

Since the article was published Thursday, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Associated Press, NBC, ABC and other news outlets have independently confirmed the statements attributed to Trump.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.

Post office named after fallen son of Khzr Khan

A Virginia post office will be named after the late Captain Humayun Khan .

ASAM NEWS

DONALD TRUMP signed a bill Friday (Dec. 21) honoring late Army Capt. Humayun Khan who died in the Iraq War in 2004. reports Bloomberg.

The bill renames Virginia's Barracks Road Shopping Center post office, at 2150 Wise St., as the "Captain Humayun Khan Post Office."

Khan’s Pakistani American immigrant parents criticized then-candidate Trump and his proposed Muslim travel ban during a highly-publicized speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2016.

Trump accused Khan’s father, Khizr Khan, of not allowing his wife to speak during the convention and suggested that Hillary Clinton’s campaign wrote the speech for the Khans. Captain Khan’s mother would later explain she chose to stand by her husband at the convention, but not speak, out of fear she would lose her composure.

SCREEN CPTUR / CNN

Khizr Khan held up his copy of the Constitution during the Democratic National Convention.

During the speech, Khizr Khan offered to loan his copy of the Constitution to Donald Trump, one of the dramatic moments of the convention.

“Donald Trump, you’re asking Americans to trust you with their future," said Khan in his powerful speech. "Let me ask you, have you even read the United States constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy," that's the moment when Khizr Khan took the copy of the Constitution out of his jacket pocket and held it up high. "In this document, look for the words ‘liberty’ and ‘equal protection of law’,” he continued.

The Daily Progress reports the couple’s son died when a vehicle with explosives was driven into the gate of a compound in Baqubah, Iraq . He would be later honored  posthumously with the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.

Virginia Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner sponsored the bill to honor Khan.

“Captain Khan is revered not only in Charlottesville, but across the nation,” the senators said. “With the dedication of this post office, we’re showing the Khan family that we’re forever grateful for his service and sacrifice for our country.”

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