'Desecrated by Donald Trump': Widow of former marine calls out Trump’s Arlington photo-op

>>> DONALD >>> DONALD TRUMP TARNISHED THE SACRED GROUND OF ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, FILMING AND POSTING CAMPAIGN IMAGES TAKEN FROM THE HALLOWED GROUND IN VIOLATION OF THE CEMETERY'S RULES AND FEDERAL LAW. IT IS IMPORTANT WE STAY SHOCKED BY THIS KIND OF BEHAVIOR SO WE DON'T ALLOW DONALD TRUMP TO INOCULATE US AGAINST HIS MANY SINS BY SIMPLY COMMITTING MORE OF THEM. TRUMP CAMPAIGN TOOK THIS PHOTO OF HIM POSING WITH A THUMBS-UP IN SECTION 60 OF ARLINGTON. LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT SECTION 60 OF ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY. IT IS A 14 ACRE SECTION MOSTLY RESERVED FOR VETERANS OF THE WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN WHICH MEANS IT IS NOT JUST HALLOWED GROUND, IT IS AN ACTIVE CEMETERY VISITED OFTEN BY THE LOVED ONES OF AMERICA'S RECENT WAR DAD. YET LENNOX MITCHELL POWELL DESCRIBED AS THE LIVELIEST AND MOST SAD PART OF ARLINGTON WHERE YOUNG WIDOWS CAN BE SEEN USING CLIPPERS AND SCISSORS TO GROOM THE GRASS AROUND THEIR HUSBANDS TOMBSTONES AS LOTS OF CHILDREN RUN ABOUT. LAST MONDAY YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN DONALD TRUMP THERE, TAKING CAMPAIGN PHOTOS AMID HEADSTONES OF THOSE WERE DEAD. THE SAME MAN WHO CALLED DEAD MARINE SUCKERS AND LOSERS, THAT ACCORDING TO HIS FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF JOHN KELLY WHO LOST HIS OWN SON, ROBERT MICHAEL KELLEY, FIRST LIEUTENANT, THIRD BATTALION, FIFTH MARINE REGIMENT KILLED IN ACTION AND HELD IN AFGHANISTAN ON NOVEMBER 9th, 2010. HE'S BURIED IN SECTION 60 OF ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY. TRUMP, WHO SAID JOHN McCAIN WHO WAS A PRISONER OF WAR IN VIETNAM FOR MORE THAN FIVE YEARS, WAS NOT A WAR HERO BECAUSE HE GOT CAPTURED. TRUMP, THE MAN WHO AVOIDED THE DRAFT ON ACCOUNT OF BONE SPURS, SO IT IS NOT A SURPRISE THIS MAN STOMPED OVER HALLOWED GROUND , THAT HIS STAFF GOT INTO A VERBAL AND PHYSICAL ALTERCATION WITH AN ARLINGTON OFFICIAL, OR HIS CAMPAIGN SPOKESPERSON LATER ATTACKED CHARACTER OF THE ARLINGTON OFFICIAL WHO THEN DECLINED TO PRESS CHARGES BECAUSE ACCORDING TO A "NEW YORK TIMES" SOURCE, SHE FEARS RETALIATION. WE MUST NOT LOOK AWAY FROM THIS BEHAVIOR. WE MUST NOT ALLOW IT TO BE NORMALIZED BY THE FREQUENCY WITH WHICH IT IS REPEATED AND EXCEEDED. AS MITCHELL POWELL WRITES IN THE ATLANTA, FOR TRUMP, THE FILING WHAT IS SACRED IN OUR CIVIC CULTURE, BORDERS ON A PAST TIME. PEACEFULLY TRANSFERRING POWER TO THE NEXT PRESIDENT, TREATING POLITICAL ADVERSARIES WITH AT LEAST RUDIMENTARY GRACE, HONORING THE SOLDIERS WOUNDED AND DISFIGURED IN SERVICE OF OUR COUNTRY, TRUMP LONG AGO WALKED ROUGHSHOD OVER ALL OF THESE NORMS. THIS WAS NOT A JUDGMENT CALL OR MINOR VIOLATION OF ITS CURE -- OBSCURE YOUR ERRATIC BOILERPLATE. MANY PARAGRAPHS, LAY OUT WHAT BEHAVIOR IS ACCEPTABLE AND WHAT IS NOT. THESE ARE NOT SUGGESTIONS BUT COMMANDMENTS. MEMORIAL SERVICES ARE INTENDED TO HONOR THE FALLEN. THE REGULATIONS NOTE WITH A ROUGH ELOQUENCE. PARTISAN ACTIVITIES ARE INAPPROPRIATE IN ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, DUE TO ITS ROLE AS A SHRINE TO ALL THE HONORED DEAD OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES AND OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE MEN AND WOMEN BURIED THERE AND FOR THEIR FAMILIES, END QUOTE. I HAVE INVITED SOMEONE TO JOIN ME, BOTH MILITARY VETERAN >>> THE MORNING >>> THE MORNING OF DECEMBER 6, 2010, 22-YEAR-OLD KATE WYATT HAD BEGUN HER DAY WHEN HER DOORBELL RANG. ON THE OTHER SIDE STOOD TWO MARINES. THAT ONLY EVER MEANS ONE THING. SHE WAS ABOUT TO RECEIVE THE WORST NEWS A SPOUSE CAN EVER HEAR. HER HUSBAND, THIS MAN, MARINE CORPORAL DEREK WYATT HAD BEEN KILLED IN ACTION IN AFGHANISTAN. KATE, A RETIRED MARINE WAS WEEKS AWAY FROM GIVING BIRTH TO THEIR SON MICHAEL. ON THE VERY SAME DAY SHE LEARNED OF HER HUSBAND'S PASSING, KATE TOLD HER DOCTORS SHE WANTED TO BE INDUCED SO SHE WOULD BE ABLE TO ATTEND HER HUSBAND'S FUNERAL AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY. THE VERY NEXT DAY I GO WYATT WAS BORN TWO WEEKS EARLY. ON JANUARY 7th, 2011, BOTH KATE AND BABY MICHAEL BURIED THEIR HUSBAND AND FATHER AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY. KATE WYATT JOINS ME NOW. THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US. >> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. >> THIS IS 13 YEARS AGO, AND IT STILL, THAT NEVER GOES AWAY. I WANT TO START BY INTRODUCING OUR VIEWERS TO YOUR HUSBAND. TO DEREK. TELL US ABOUT DEREK. >> ABSOLUTELY. I TALK ABOUT HIM AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. DEREK WAS SUCH A WONDERFUL PERSON. HE LIT UP EVERY ROOM. HE HAD SUCH A HUGE PERSONALITY. THAT MANY PEOPLE SAY THAT WITH KNOWING HIM FOR A FEW MINUTES, THEY FELT LIKE THEY KNEW HIM HIS WHOLE LIFE. BECAUSE HE JUST MAKES YOU FEEL SO HEARD AND LOVED AND HE HAD SUCH A VIBRANCY TO HIS LIFE, THAT HE WAS REALLY DIFFICULT TO NOT NOTICE. >> YOU WERE A MARINE, AND WHEN YOU ARE SPOUSE OF A MARINE AND MARINES COME TO YOUR DOOR, IT NEVER MEANS ANYTHING ELSE. WHAT WAS THAT LIKE FOR YOU? >> UNFORTUNATELY I HAD JUST GOTTEN OUT OF THE MARINES MYSELF BECAUSE I HAD WANTED TO GO IN AS AN OFFICER AND DEREK HAD ALREADY RE-ENLISTED AND HE HAD SAID THAT WHEN HE GOT BACK FROM THIS DEPLOYMENT, WHICH WOULD HAVE ROUNDED OUT HIS SECOND CONTRACT, THAT HE WANTED TO GET OUT AND HELP TAKE CARE OF MICHAEL SO I COULD GO TO SCHOOL. AND SO I GAVE UP MY CAREER AND A LOT OF WAYS I GAVE UP THE LIFE WE DREAMED OF TOGETHER. AND I HAD JUST PICKED UP MY MOM THE DAY BEFORE. AND WE HAD STAYED UP REALLY LATE TALKING ABOUT BIRTHING PLANS BECAUSE IT SHOULD'VE BEEN ABOUT A WEEK OR TWO AWAY. I WOKE UP TO THE KNOCK AT THE DOOR, AND LOOKED AT THE PEOPLE -- PEEP HOLE. I KNEW WHAT HAD HAPPENED AND I LET THE GENTLEMAN IN. WE CRIED AND I TOOK A DEEP BREATH AND SAID, WHAT DO WE DO NOW. BECAUSE I'M NINE MONTHS PREGNANT AND WE ARE EXPECTING OUR FIRST SON. AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. LUCKILY THROUGH LEADERSHIP AND FAMILY AND FRIENDS, I MADE IT TO TODAY, WHERE I AM A GRADUATE STUDENT AND A MOTHER OF THE MOST WONDERFUL 13-YEAR-OLD BOY. AND WHAT'S GOT ME THROUGH THAT A LOT IS THE CAMARADERIE OF THEIR MARINE CORPS. I JOINED TO SERVE MY COUNTRY. I JOINED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. AND SO DID DEREK. AND SO TO HEAR THE ONE PLACE WE ALL, SERVICEMEMBERS ACROSS THE BOARD, RESPECT AND REVERE, HAS BEEN DESECRATED, NOT JUST BY DONALD TRUMP YET AGAIN, AS THE SECOND TIME. ALMOST FOUR YEARS TO THE DAY THAT I SPOKE OUT ABOUT THE FIRST TIME DONALD TRUMP DID THIS. AND NOW THAT HE HAS A MARINE CORPORAL AS HIS VICE PRESIDENT, I AM ASKING FOR ACCOUNTABILITY. I TAKE THAT BACK. I AM DEMANDING ACCOUNTABILITY FROM CORPORAL FANS -- VANCE ON HOW THIS EGREGIOUS TRESPASSING OF SACRED GROUND, HOW IT CAN BE WORTH YOUR INTEGRITY TO WORK FOR A MAN LIKE THAT. IS JUST VERY ON -- ON MARINE LIKE. >> I HAVEN'T SERVED A DAY IN MY LIFE. I CAN'T IMAGINE THE BRAVERY AND THE DANGERS AND THINGS YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT. YOU ARE A GOLD STAR WIDOW AND A MARINE. THIS DOES NOT END, AS HE SAID IT IS NOT THE FIRST TIME. THIS CONTINUES TO HAPPEN, DISREGARD FOR OUR ARMED FORCES. JOHN KELLY BROUGHT DONALD TRUMP TO HIS SON'S GRAVESIDE AND CAN BE SEEN IN A SEA OF CAMERAS, DIRECTLY BEHIND OR ADJACENT TO YOUR HUSBAND'S GRAVE. YOUR HUSBAND IS BURIED IN SECTION 60. >> DIRECTLY BEHIND LIEUTENANT KELLY'S DEREK'S PLATOON COMMANDER. WHEN LIEUTENANT KELLY DIED, IT REALLY ROCKED DEREK. HE ACTUALLY HAD BEEN ABLE TO CALL ME AND SO IN THAT PICTURE CAME OUT, I WAS INSTANTLY INFURIATED. I REACHED OUT TO MY FRIENDS AND I NEEDED TO TALK TO SOMEBODY ABOUT HOW INAPPROPRIATE THIS WAS AND HOW THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES SHOULD KNOW THIS IS INAPPROPRIATE, LET ALONE TO INFRINGE ON THE GRIEVING PROCESS. OF THE KELLY FAMILY, WHO I HAD UPMOST RESPECT FOR. SO THIS DOES NOT AND COVER US. HOWEVER, OUR STORIES HELP TO SHAPE OUR TO BE TOLD HISTORY. ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY IS A VISIBLE REMINDER OF THE DEAD, WHO MADE THIS COUNTRY POSSIBLE. IT IS ALSO A REMINDER OF THE FINITE ROOM THAT WE HAVE, TO STORE HONORABLY THE DEAD FROM OUR BATTLES, AND IT SHOULD NOT HAVE TO BE EXPLAINED, THAT THIS IS NOT AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A PHOTO OP. SO THE GOAL STAR WIDOW FAMILY, TO THE GOLD STAR FAMILIES OUT THERE, I RESPECT YOUR RIGHT TO INVITE WHO YOU CHOOSE, TO YOUR MEMORY CEREMONIES. HOWEVER, OUR SERVICE AND SECTION 60, SPECIFICALLY, IS JUST SO MUCH BIGGER THAN ANY ONE PERSON. THAT WAS INAPPROPRIATE TO TAKE PICTURES AND WHEN YOU ARE STILL YOUNG OR NEW TO THIS, WIDOW HOOD OF THE MILITARY, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU HAVE THE ROLES THAT WE HAVE. WHICH IS WHAT THAT STAFF MEMBER WAS TRYING TO ENFORCE. AND IN MY EYES, PROTECT MY HUSBAND AND HIS HONOR AND HIS MEMORY. AND THEY WERE ROUGH HANDLED AT BEST AND ASSAULTED AT WORST BY THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN, BECAUSE THEY WANTED THE ENTITLEMENT OF THAT HONOR, WITHOUT EVER EVEN -- MOST PEOPLE CAN'T SERVE AND THAT IS OKAY. YOU CAN SERVE IN SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS. BUT DONALD TRUMP MADE HIS VIEWS CLEAR TO GENERAL KELLY, WHAT HE THOUGHT OF VETERANS. AND I BELIEVE GENERAL KELLY. I BELIEVE A MAN OF HONOR. I BELIEVE THE KELLY FAMILY. DONALD TRUMP IS NOT ONLY A FELON, BUT A KNOWN LIAR AND A CON ARTIST. AND I THINK THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, TO NOT FOCUS ON THE BIPARTISAN ISSUE, BUT RATHER, THE MORAL CHARACTER OF EACH CANDIDATE. SO THAT THOSE OF US WHO ARE -- CAN CONTINUE TO LIVE OUR LIVES WITH RESPECT AND DIGNITY AND WITHOUT WORRYING THAT WHEN I DIE, AND MY SON GETS TO VISIT DEREK AND I IN THE SAME PLACE, THAT HE WON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS, SO WE CAN CLEAR IT UP. >> KATE WYATT, THANK YOU OR YOUR SERVICE TO THE COUNTRY. THANK YOU FOR KEEPING THE SERVICE AND THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE OF DEREK ALIVE AND IN AND OUR EMORY. KATE WYATT IS GOLD STAR