Actor Jon Voight, who won an Oscar in 1978 for his portrayal of a paralyzed Vietnam veteran in "Coming Home," said in an interview airing Thursday that he was "grateful" to be able to accompany President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to pay respects to two soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan.
"He felt I had empathy for the families and invited me," Voight told Fox News' Raymond Arroyo, adding that he had decided that he "would like to see that ceremony performed and say my prayers and salute those caskets."
The invitation to go to Dover with the Trumps on Nov. 21 to witness the ritual of transferring the metal cases holding the soldiers' remains from the plane returning them to the United States was extended earlier that day when Voight, a strong supporter of the president, was at the White House being awarded the National Medal of the Arts, reports The New York Times.
"The ceremony was so interesting," Voight told Arroyo. "There is an art to it. I was so grateful to be there ... that ritual, that art made the statement of our respect and our gratitude for the sacrifices of our military. I am sure the dignity of it was affecting to those families."
According to the Defense Department, the two Army soldiers, Chief Warrant Officer 2 David C. Knadle, 33, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kirk T. Fuchigami Jr., 25, were killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.
During the interview, Voight also recalled his shock when the United States pulled out of Vietnam, and the left's reaction to the pullout.
"I was very shocked when we pulled out of Vietnam [at] the slaughter the communists delivered to Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam," he said. "The left just celebrated that as a victory. You are not paying attention to the horror that was created with our pulling out."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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