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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 2017)
Page 4 October 25, 2017 Myeshia Johnson, the wife of army Sgt. La David Johnson, kisses her husband’s casket during his funeral service in Florida on Sat- urday. (AP photo) Soldier’s Widow Backs Claim Says Trump condolence call ‘made me cry” C annon ’ s r ib e xPress 5410 NE 33rd Ave, Portland, Or Call to Order: 503-288-3836 Open (hours) Sun-Thurs: 11a-8p Fri-Sat: 11a- 9p Cannon’s, tasty food and friendly neighborhood atmosphere. (AP) - A fallen soldier’s angry widow joined the stormy dispute with President Donald Trump on Monday over his response to her husband’s death, declaring that his failure to remember the soldier’s name in last week’s condolence call “made me cry.” He retorted on Twitter that the call was “very respectful” and her accusation simply wasn’t true. The president spoke in pub- lic at two events during the day - including his awarding of the military Medal of Honor to a Viet- nam-era Army medic - and made no mention of the case of Sgt. La David Johnson, one of four sol- diers killed Oct. 4 in a firefight with militants tied to the Islamic State group in Niger. In addition to criticizing Trump, Myeshia Johnson, the sergeant’s widow, also complained bitterly that she had not been able to see her husband’s body. “I need to see him so I will know that that is my husband,” she said. “I don’t know nothing, they won’t show me a finger, a hand.” Myeshia Johnson spoke for the first time in the dispute on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” In the interview, she supported criti- cal statements last week by Rep. Frederica Wilson, who had been in the car with the widow and oth- er relatives when Trump phoned. “Yes, the president said that ‘he knew what he signed up for, but it hurts anyway.’ And it made me cry ‘cause I was very angry at the tone of his voice and how he said he couldn’t remember my husband’s name,” Johnson said. At the Pentagon, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said an investigation has still to resolve questions about the Oct. 4 fire- fight. They include whether the U.S. had adequate intelligence and equipment for its operation, whether there was a planning fail- ure and why it took two days to recover Johnson’s body. Besides Johnson’s family, members of Congress are de- manding answers. Last week, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., threatened a subpoena to accelerate the flow of information. The row over Trump’s call began last week when Wilson, a Florida Democrat, accused Trump of being callous in the conversa- tion and Trump responded that Wilson’s account was fabricated. But Johnson backed Wilson’s account, saying that the congress- woman was a longtime friend and listened on a speakerphone in the car with family members. Said Johnson on Monday: “I heard him stumbling on trying to remember my husband’s name, and that’s what hurt me the most, because if my husband is out here fighting for our country and he risked his life for our country why can’t you remember his name.” The continuing dispute drew criticism from McCain, who spent more than five years in a Vietnam- ese prison. He said on “The View” Monday: “We should not be fight- ing about a brave American who lost his life.” Confusion over what happened in Niger has dogged Trump, who was silent about the deaths for more than a week. Johnson declined to directly address Trump on Monday. Asked if she had a message for the pres- ident, she replied: “No. I don’t have nothing to say to him.”