The widow of US Army Sgt. La David Johnson has finally
broken her silence about the phone call she received from President Donald
Trump. Reports
that the president was disrespectful in the phone call set off a controversy
about the treatment of Gold Star families last week.
Myeshia Johnson appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on
Monday morning to give her side of the story. The appearance is the first time
that Mrs. Johnson has publicly spoken about the controversy although Sgt.
Johnson’s mother had previously corroborated claims by Rep. Frederica Wilson
(D-Fl.) that Trump’s comments during the call had upset the family.
Mrs. Johnson spoke with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos
in a recorded interview. Johnson said that the president called as they were
arriving at Dover AFB to meet Sgt. Johnson’s body. She asked that the phone speaker
be turned on so that other relatives could hear.
From the ABC
News transcript, Mrs. Johnson tells what happened next:
“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. The only way he
remembered my husband's name is because he told me he had my husband’s report
in front of him and that’s when he actually said ‘La David.’ I heard him
stumblin' 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. And that’s what made
me upset and cry even more because my husband was an awesome soldier.”
Johnson said that after the call she was “very, very upset
and hurt” and that “it made me cry even worse.” She added that Rep. Wilson was
a longtime family friend and that her claims about the content of the phone
call were “100 percent correct.”
Mrs. Johnson also said that she has questions about the
circumstances of her husband’s death in Niger. “I want to know why it took them
48-hours to find my husband,” she said, adding that she was never allowed to
view her husband’s body.
“They just told me that, um, it was a massive gunfire and my
husband as of October 4th was missing, they didn't his whereabouts,” Johnson
said. “They didn't know where he was or where to find him and a couple days
later is when they told me that he went from missing to killed in action. I
don’t know how he got killed, where he got killed or anything.”
Myeshia Johnson said that she intends to keep pushing for
answers about her husband’s death and that she “want[s] the world to know how
great of a soldier my husband was and [what] a loving and caring father and
husband he was to our family.”
“He died as a hero,” she said.
Originally Published
On The Resurgent
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