Protesters listen to a speaker on March 14, 2025, during a rally on the National Mall in Washington to protest cuts to veterans jobs, services and benefits. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — Disabled veteran Don Carter rode shotgun in his son’s Chevy pickup truck for 11 hours from Illinois to the nation’s capital to take part in a political protest for the first time in his life.
Carter, a 92-year-old Korean War veteran, and his son, Larry, joined a crowd of nearly 3,000 for a two-hour national veterans’ rally Friday on the National Mall to protest cuts by President Donald Trump to veterans’ federal jobs, services and benefits.
The pair watched as fellow veterans waved American flags and speakers rallied support for the 30,000 federal workers fired by Trump’s administration. With chants of “Lock him up,” the crowd called for Trump to be removed from office for his actions.
Similar protests were held at state capitols across the nation, according to Fourteenth Now, the event organizer.
“Two billionaires, Trump and Musk, are gutting the VA and purging veteran employees — bankrupting war heroes while cashing in on their sacrifice,” said Michael Embrich, a Navy veteran and political commentator for Rolling Stone, who rallied protesters from a small stage.
Speakers also included representatives from Free the People, Sons of Liberty and other self-described progressive groups and movements.
But many veterans who attended said their participation had nothing to do with political affiliation.
“A lot of the veterans here voted for Trump,” said Rebecca Logan, 38, a former Air Force staff sergeant. She and her husband drove with their daughter from South Carolina to participate.
Logan, who is 100% disabled, said she feels Trump is “abandoning his commitment to veterans” and views their benefits and services as dispensable.
“What’s happening in this country to our veterans is not right,” she said.
Logan said she worries Trump considers the services and benefits that she and other veterans receive as “fraud and waste” to be cut or eliminated.
She served from 2005 to 2011 with deployments to Iraq and Kazakhstan and developed a debilitating neurological condition connected to her exposure to burn pits. Her job in the military was to manage the disposal of hazardous materials.
Carter, who uses a walker, said he and his son did not make the arduous trip only to protest cuts to veterans programs but they also wanted to register their dissent of Trump’s actions and policies in view of the White House.
Jobs, services and benefits are being taken from veterans, said Seth Burgess, who traveled from North Carolina in support of a friend back home who is an Army veteran.
Seth Burgess of North Carolina attends a rally on the National Mall in Washington on March 14, 2025, to protest cuts to veterans jobs, services and benefits. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
He said his friend — who left military service a year ago — has post-traumatic stress disorder and would not be able to tolerate the crowd and noise.
So Burgess, who is not a military veteran, said he offered to make the trip for him.
He said he shares his friend’s concerns about “toxic statements” by Trump and his administration about veterans and the services that they receive.
“He’s trying to divide this nation,” Burgess said.
The rally Friday was touted by organizers on social media as a protest of the “purging” of veteran employees, part of Trump’s cost-cutting measures, led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
But speakers representing Fourteenth Now, the event organizer, also called for the removal of Trump from office during the rally.
The group said the date of the rally — March 14th — was symbolic as it represents Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, “which states that a person ‘engaged in insurrection or rebellion’ after taking an oath of office to support the Constitution should be barred from holding office again,” according to the group’s posts on social media.
Resting on the foldout seat of his red walker, Carter held up a poster scrawled with the message, “I’m not a sucker. I’m not a loser. I’m a 92-year-old proud Navy veteran.”
His sign referred to statements about service members attributed to Trump in 2020 in a story published in The Atlantic magazine. Trump denied making the remarks.
Carter, who served in the Navy nearly 75 years ago, said he worries America is on the verge of losing its democracy.
Carter, a petty officer second class during the Korean War, said he does not see himself as an outsider but as a veteran with concerns about the nation’s future.
“I served this country, and it was important for me to come here today,” he said. “It’s my duty.”
Protesters gather on March 14, 2025, during a rally on the National Mall in Washington to protest cuts to veterans jobs, services and benefits. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
