Danish veterans describe shock of Trump admin rhetoric : NPR

On a latest chilly afternoon in Copenhagen, sitting exterior a restaurant with blinking warmth lamps, Firm Sergeant Main Henrik Bager shared a Danish expression.

“You could have a cup. When it is crammed, you should empty it so you do not get careworn or indignant or to do silly stuff,” he defined.

Earlier this month, his cup was full – after escalating rhetoric from President Trump and others in his administration about how Denmark hasn’t finished sufficient to safe Greenland, that they have been a poor ally.

“The primary time it felt like a punch to the intestine,” stated Bager, who has deployed 5 occasions to serve alongside Individuals, together with in Afghanistan and Iraq. “You’ll be able to survive one punch within the intestine. When it simply retains on going, then it fills you up with unhappiness, disappointment, anger.”

So he emptied these emotions right into a letter that reads like a poem. He despatched it by way of Fb to former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Rufus Gifford.

Pricey Rufus Gifford,

I’m not writing as a politician.
Not as an analyst.
I’m writing as a Danish Afghanistan and Iraq veteran.

And sure – this brings tears to my eyes.

When the U.S. right this moment calls Denmark a poor ally, it looks like a slap within the face to these of us who had been really there.

After 9/11, Denmark didn’t hesitate.
We didn’t debate polls.
We didn’t calculate politics.

We placed on our gear.
We stated goodbye to our households.
We kissed our kids goodnight and hoped we’d see them once more.

We stood aspect by aspect with American troopers.
We patrolled collectively.
We coated one another.
We bled collectively.
And we misplaced folks.

Danish troopers by no means got here again house as a result of we took the alliance significantly – not as phrases, however as a promise between troopers.

So when Denmark is named disloyal, it doesn’t simply hit a rustic.
It hits these of us who wore the uniform.
It hits the fallen.
It hits the households nonetheless paying the worth.

We don’t count on thanks.
We don’t count on applause.

However we do count on honesty.
And respect for historical past.

Denmark was there when it mattered.
And we weren’t half-hearted.

A solider by no means forgets who stood by his aspect.
Nations shouldn’t both.

Thanks in your voice, you’ve gotten the respect from the Danish folks.

Bager by no means anticipated a response.

However Gifford did see it.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Rufus Gifford (L) and Firm Sergeant Main Henrik Bager (R) meet for the primary time on Jan. 19. Bager despatched a letter to Gifford earlier this month expressing his unhappiness and disappointment on the means wherein the Trump administration has been speaking about Denmark.

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“I bought so emotional after I learn it,” Gifford stated. “It hits me proper right here – within the coronary heart.” Bager and Gifford met in particular person for the primary time on Monday, and collectively spoke with NPR.

Gifford stated his response is borne, partly, from a way of duty. Denmark is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Group (NATO), together with the U.S.

“You concentrate on the success of this alliance, which is about sticking up in your associates simply as a lot as it’s about sticking up for your self,” Gifford stated. “You concentrate on Article 5, this concept that in the event you assault one in every of us, you assault all of us, which has solely been invoked as soon as — and that was after 9/11, which is why Henrik went to Afghanistan.”

Bager stated he served as a squad chief within the Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan in 2009, one of many deadliest battlegrounds of the struggle.

“We had the Taliban at our doorstep,” he stated.

His father died throughout that deployment.

“I went house, buried him, stated goodbye to my sister and mom once more, after which I flew again and fulfilled my activity,” he recalled. “That is how devoted we’re after we exit — the Danish troopers.”

He stated three Danish troopers had been killed and one other 22 wounded throughout his deployment. Denmark had one of many highest per capita dying charges amongst allied international locations in the course of the battle — 43 recorded deaths — a actuality that has weighed closely on a rustic with a inhabitants of roughly 6 million folks.

“For these households who did not get their soldier house, sitting and listening to this rhetoric getting used, it have to be extra painful, hurtful than it’s for me – and I can really feel all of it the way in which to my bones,” he stated.

Bager, 47, described how Danish troopers plan their potential funerals, ought to the worst occur.

“What sort of songs we need to have performed within the church, what flowers we need to have on the coffin,” he remembered.

They write goodbye letters, too.

“A letter for my mother, dad, my sister, my nephews, my children, my spouse — you do not simply write one letter,” he stated. “You need to make it very private as a result of it is the final phrases your loved ones will hear from you.”

Gifford stated it is a reminder of the sacrifice Danes have made within the title of the longstanding alliance between Denmark and the U.S.

“The concept we’d, over the course of 1 yr, create an adversarial relationship with the very best associates that we have now on the planet is simply unthinkable to me,” he stated.

“Belief is one thing that takes years to construct and you may break it instantly,” Gifford added. “We now have been spending many years constructing belief throughout borders, particularly with our NATO allies, and it breaks my coronary heart in such a profound method to see the speed at which that belief has eroded within the final yr.”

Bager made a degree of acknowledging his American brothers-in-arms.

“If any American veterans are listening to this, thanks in your service,” he stated. “I hope that sooner or later, we are able to meet up once more – hopefully not on the battlefield, however on different missions which can be extra peaceable. Freedom runs deep for many who struggle for it.”

‘All these deaths appear disrespected’

Bager’s is one in every of a refrain of voices in Denmark expressing ache and disappointment with the rhetoric coming from the Trump administration.

Final spring, Vice President JD Vance informed Fox Information that Denmark was “not being a very good ally” and never doing sufficient to defend Greenland. Extra lately, Trump has ramped up his campaign for the U.S. to amass Greenland, ignoring Danish sovereignty.

“Lots of people know individuals who have served and who’ve died in Afghanistan,” stated Villads Welling, a 21-year previous political science scholar on the College of Copenhagen. “And all of these deaths appear disrespected and like they do not matter now as a result of [the Trump administration] is saying that Denmark will not be doing sufficient and they aren’t a very good ally.”

Peter Jensen, 63, stated the informal means Trump has talked about buying Greenland is offensive, and throws into query the longstanding relationship and alliances between the U.S. and Denmark.

“Betrayal might be the very best phrase,” Jensen informed NPR. “Somebody you belief, somebody you’d do your greatest to again up when wanted, and all of a sudden – they stab your again.”

Jensen’s son and son-in-law are veterans.

“Having children going to struggle, I can inform you, that is heartbreaking,” he stated. “You thought you had been powerful. They’re younger – they [think] they’re invincible. However you might be older and you already know they are not invincible.”

Whereas Trump as soon as flirted with the concept of buying Greenland by pressure, he dominated it out in a speech Wednesday. However Jensen stated harm has already been finished.

“This isn’t forgotten,” he stated. “Even when issues settle down round Greenland tomorrow, there are already some long-term results on what has occurred right here.”

He is fast to emphasise his anger and disappointment is directed on the White Home – not the American folks.

“Do not forget that we love America, we love you — however the current administration is simply making chaos,” he stated.

Søren Knudsen, a retired officer with the Danish Military, and his spouse Gina Schaar at their house in Køge, Denmark. The couple stated they fear the Trump administration’s rhetoric about Denmark dangers a basic change within the relationship between Denmark and the U.S.

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Taking the Stars and Stripes down 

Søren Knudsen, a retired officer with the Danish military, stated one of many proudest acknowledgments he is acquired in his 42-year profession got here after he served as Deputy Commander of a NATO mission in Afghanistan.

“Upon leaving the mission in 2012, the Individuals honored me with The Stars and Stripes that had been flown within the face of the enemy,” he stated.

“That was a fantastic, nice honor. If you happen to give your nationwide colours to a consultant of one other nation – that isn’t simply one thing you do. Which means rather a lot,” he stated. Knudsen was additionally awarded a Bronze Star.

He and his spouse Gina Schaar, who’s American-born, hung the framed flag and plaque proudly within the entrance of their house in Ølby.

“When you have gotten such a powerful token that you simply had been so pleased with, you’ll present it to everybody – the very first thing they see once they entered our home was this,” Knudsen stated in an interview in his house.

That modified after Vance’s feedback final spring, which left Knudsen with a mixture of feelings: “ache, betrayal, unhappiness.”

“I walked down the steps and stated, no means, I am not going to indicate this,” he stated, pointing to the wall the place it as soon as was displayed. “It was an award that I bought on behalf of my efforts, my nation’s efforts, my comrades’ efforts, and now they are saying it does not matter anymore.”

Knudsen took the body down. As an alternative hangs a portray of a vase with white tulips.

“I used to be at all times so proud that I am married to a foreigner, and but he’s supporting my nation. He’s risking his security and his safety in help of a mission that my nation has requested,” Schaar stated. “That was one thing that strengthened our bond as a world couple, and so it feels even worse to have that disparaged.”

The couple stated they fear the Trump administration’s rhetoric about Denmark dangers a basic change within the relationship between their two international locations.

“It is brute energy, and no extra historical past,” Knudsen, 65, stated. “No extra alliances. No extra confidence.”

Schaar added she by no means thought it will get thus far.

“I by no means dreamed that there can be this antagonism between two locations that I like.”

Knudsen, who serves because the vice chairman of the Danish Veterans Affiliation, stated it is necessary for Individuals to know how well-liked the united stateshas been in Denmark.

“The Danes have felt the U.S. was a beacon and a frontrunner of the free world,” he stated. “What [Danish soldiers] went out for was defending values alongside America, alongside the nation that we believed in.”

Knudsen stated the current scenario is so painful as a result of he believes within the transatlantic alliance, within the financial, safety and cultural ties which have certain the U.S. and Denmark collectively.

“Gina has taught me this, and I want to remain centered on this – there could possibly be a day the place the Stars and Stripes would come up once more,” he stated. “I hope sooner or later there’s a comeback.”