The Two Heroes Trump Wants Us to Forget This Memorial Day

They fought fascism abroad. This is how we honor them by defeating it at home

Dear Fellow American,

While Donald Trump and the DOJ create political slush funds to reward, pardon, and uplift the very extremists who tried to violently destroy the United States Constitution, it falls entirely on the rest of us to honor and defend the memory of those who actually died to protect it.

The irony is as sickening as it is dangerous.

This Memorial Day weekend, millions of families across our nation will pack up picnics, fire up barbecues, and head to lakes to enjoy a hard-earned day off with friends. The simple freedom to enjoy that leisure, to speak our minds, and to live in a society governed by the rule of law was bought at a price we must never forget. It was paid for in final breaths on blood-soaked battlefields half a world away.

Yet, as we enter this holiday, we are witnessing a grotesque inversion of American values. The very heritage of freedom bought by our fallen heroes is being leveraged to protect those who sought to subvert it. True remembrance cannot be passive. We do not honor the fallen by wrapping ourselves in unthinking complacency while our democratic institutions are systematically dismantled from within.

Donald Trump and his radicalized factions are busy trying to undo everything that generations of Americans bled for—from weaponizing the federal apparatus and threatening our civil service, to orchestrating efforts to deface and re-envision Washington monuments to reflect an authoritarian ethos rather than democratic ideals.

It is up to all of us to stand in the breach. We must defend and uplift the memories of those who died for American democracy, because if we do not fight for our democracy here at home right now, we risk a terrifying future. It is not an exaggeration to say that if authoritarianism takes root in America, it could be our own children and grandchildren fighting and dying in the near future—not to protect freedom, but forced by a tyrannical regime to fight in wars that undo everything our ancestors fought to build. We cannot, and we will not, let that happen.

THE HISTORIC BATTLE AGAINST TYRANNY

The arc of American military history is defined by a recurring, global struggle against the rise of totalitarianism, fascism, and communism—forces that sought to extinguish the light of human liberty. The soldiers we honor this week understood that an attack on democracy anywhere is a threat to democracy everywhere.

Think of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in World War I, where over 26,000 American soldiers gave their lives to defeat imperial autocracy, a brutal conflict born out of the ashes of failing empires that ultimately set the stage for the global fight against totalitarian ideologies. Think of the Battle of Normandy and the bloody fields of the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, where hundreds of thousands of young Americans faced down the military might of Nazi fascism. They scaled raw cliffs and froze in dark forests specifically to prevent a genocidal, fascist dictatorship from dominating the globe and erasing constitutional liberty forever.

Think of the bitter cold of the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War, or the dense jungles of the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, where American service members died trying to halt the forced expansion of totalitarian communism. These wars and battles were directly tied to stopping the global rise of oppressive regimes that viewed the individual as nothing and the autocratic state as everything. The men and women who fell there did not die for a dictator, a king, or a political slush fund; they died for an idea written on parchment in 1787—the Constitution of the United States.

REAL HEROES OF THE CONSTITUTION

To truly understand this sacrifice, we must look past abstract numbers and remember the names and stories of a couple of the hundreds of thousands of real American heroes who died performing their explicit duty to uphold the Constitution:

First Lieutenant John R. Fox was an African American soldier who served in the segregated 366th Infantry Regiment during World War II. Despite facing systemic racism and being denied the full protections of the Constitution at home, Fox believed fiercely in the promise of American democracy and volunteered to defend it against European fascism. On Christmas Day 1944, during a fierce German counteroffensive in Sommocolonia, Italy, Fox’s forward observer post was surrounded by fascist forces. Knowing his position was completely compromised, he calmly radioed his own artillery unit and ordered them to fire directly on his position to stop the enemy advance. When his coordinator hesitated, Fox replied, "Fire it. There's more of them than there are of us." The barrage killed Fox, but it successfully broke the fascist assault and saved his retreating unit. Posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, Lieutenant Fox gave the ultimate sacrifice to defeat tyranny abroad, leaving behind a legacy that demands we fiercely protect our democracy at home.

Captain Humayun Khan, a young University of Virginia graduate, served in the U.S. Army during the Iraq War. In June 2004, while inspecting a security checkpoint, a suspicious vehicle approached. Captain Khan stepped forward, ordering his men to hit the dirt, and confronted the vehicle before it could detonate near a facility housing hundreds of soldiers and civilians. He was killed instantly by the suicide bomber. Captain Khan’s sacrifice epitomized the ultimate fulfillment of the military oath—laying down his life to defend the pluralistic, constitutional democracy that had welcomed his family as immigrants.

Shall their sacrifice be in vain?

That is the question every American must look in the mirror and answer this Memorial Day. If we allow domestic authoritarians to tear down our judiciary, subvert our elections, and replace the rule of law with the rule of a single man, we are effectively telling First Lieutenant Fox, Captain Khan, and the millions of others buried at Arlington and across the world that their sacrifice meant nothing.

OUR DUTY AT HOME

The starkest irony of our current moment is that we are not being asked to do anything hard. We are not being asked to storm a beach under machine-gun fire. We are not being asked to freeze in a trench or look down the barrel of an enemy rifle. We are not being asked to do something that could cost us our lives.

All that is required of us as Americans to protect our democracy are the basic, fundamental civic duties that every citizen should already be performing:

• Flood the Ballot Box: Vote in every election to systematically defeat candidates who echo authoritarian rhetoric or subvert democratic norms.

• Weaponize Independent Media: Fund networks like Lincoln Square Media to stay informed, dismantle propaganda, and broadcast the truth.

• Infiltrate Voting Infrastructure: Volunteer as a poll worker or observer to protect voting access and shield local election workers from those trying to prevent voters from voting.

• Shield Authoritarian Targets: Organize mutual aid and legal defense to protect the vulnerable communities Trump refuses to safeguard under the Constitution.

• Run for Public Office: Step up and run for local, state, or federal seats to defend constitutional integrity from within.

• Bombard Congress Daily: Maintain relentless phone-banking and letter-writing campaigns to pressure representatives to block extremist legislation and judicial appointments.

• Mobilize in the Streets: Join rapid-response, peaceful protests whenever democratic institutions or constitutional checks and balances are directly threatened.

• Boycott Fascist Enablers: Divest from and boycott any corporation or billionaire funding election deniers or anti-constitutional political action committees.

To keep democracy alive, we must ensure these civic lessons stay with us daily, not just once a year. That is why Lincoln Square Media is launching an aggressive, wide-reaching Memorial Day Truth & Democracy Campaign. We are asking for much less than those who gave their lives, but we need your support to execute this vital work.

Throughout the upcoming holiday week, while the rest of the country switches off, Lincoln Square Media will be working around the clock. We are creating powerful digital graphics, deeply researched articles, and highly engaging short-form videos designed to saturate social media, streaming platforms, and local networks. Our goal is to inspire, inform, and directly remind everyday Americans of their urgent civic duties. We will confront the lies of the far-right, expose the danger of authoritarian slush funds, and remind everyday citizens what it truly means to defend the Constitution.

But producing graphics, ad placement, and ad buys require resources. We cannot fight billionaire-funded propaganda machines without your help. We need you to join us in two distinct ways right now:

DONATE: Donate to pro-democracy organizations like Lincoln Square Media that have the infrastructure to amplify facts, expose corruption, and broadcast messaging to millions of Americans to remind them of their civic duty.

FIGHT: Be vocal. Fight injustices, fight explicit threats to the Constitution, show up at protests, and bombard the phone lines of Congress. Use your voice to echo the values that our soldiers died protecting.

We must see the power of the fight. What are you willing to do right now to help inspire and mobilize Americans to defend the Constitution and honor the legacies of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice?

Let us look at this holiday with sober, determined eyes. Let us enjoy our families and our freedom, but let us resolve that we will not let the greatness of America be undone by the political ambitions of demagogues.

Treat this moment with the urgency it demands, make the small sacrifices needed of us today, and ensure that the flame of constitutional liberty never goes out.

Thank you for your courage, your vigilance, and your continued support,

The Editorial & Campaign Team

Lincoln Square Media

P.S. Our counter-offensive launches this weekend, running targeted short-form media to millions of independent and disengaged voters. Please make a generous donation today to make sure our ads stay on the air through Memorial Day and beyond. We cannot afford to stay silent.