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”
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(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.”