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Groton Daily Independent
Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 102 ~ 39 of 63
his son’s death and refused to politicize it.
Robert Kelly, 29, was killed when he stepped on a land mine in Afghanistan’s remote Helmand province.
His father, aware that Robert Kelly accompanied almost every patrol with his men through mine- lled battle elds, had just days before warned the family of the potential danger, according to a report in The Washington Post. When Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr. rang the elder Kelly’s doorbell at 6:10 a.m. on November 9, 2010, John Kelly knew Robert was dead, according to the report.
Four days later, the grieving father with the four-decade military career asked a Marine Corps of cer not to mention Robert’s death during an event in St. Louis. There, without mentioning Robert, John Kelly delivered an impassioned speech about the disconnect between military personnel and members of American society who do not support their mission.
“Their struggle is your struggle,” Kelly said.
“We are only one of 5,500 American families who have suffered the loss of a child in this war,” Kelly wrote to The Post in an e-mail. “The death of my boy simply cannot be made to seem any more tragic than the others.”
In March 2011, Kelly accompanied his boss, Defense Secretary Bob Gates, on a visit to the Sangin dis- trict, in Helmand province — the scene of some of the most intense ghting of the war and where Robert Kelly had been killed.
As Gates’ senior military assistant, Kelly stood silently among young Marines gathering under a harsh sun as Gates applauded what they had accomplished.
“Your success, obviously, has come at an extraordinary price,” Gates said without mentioning names.
Ahead of Trump and Kelly’s visit to Robert’s grave on Memorial Day, Kelly’s voice caught when he was asked on Fox & Friends to describe his son.
“He’s the nest man I ever knew,” Kelly said. Asked to elaborate, Kelly struggled at rst. “Just is. Finest guy. Wonderful guy. Wonderful husband, wonderful son, wonderful brother. Brave beyond all get out. His men still correspond with us. They still mourn him as we do.”
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Follow Kellman and Burns on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/APLaurieKellman and http://www.twitter. com/RobertBurnsAP .
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Associated Press writer Rhonda Shafner contributed to this report.
Trump kicks issues to Congress, is erratic trading partner By CATHERINE LUCEY, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is proving to be an erratic trading partner as he kicks thorny policy issues to Congress and then sends con icting signals about what he really wants.
His rapid backpedal on a short-term health care x this week is the latest example to leave Republicans and Democrats alike scratching their heads.
“The president has had six positions on our bill,” an exasperated Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Wednesday after Trump offered multiple reads on a bipartisan plan to keep health insurance markets in business, ultimately ending with a thumbs-down.
Nine months into of ce, Trump has shown a preference for delegating to lawmakers on everything from health care to immigration to foreign policy. Sometimes he creates situations that demand a congressional solution. In other cases, he sets dif cult-to-achieve broad policy goals and expects lawmakers to ll in the ne print.
Along the way, he’s proven to be an unpredictable force. He encouraged Republican Sen. Lamar Alex- ander of Tennessee to work with Murray on a bipartisan solution on insurer payments, only to announce after some wavering that he wouldn’t support it.
The results speak for themselves: Despite controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House, Republicans have achieved no major legislative successes this year. Their efforts on health care have ended