Airborne Against America: Trump’s War on Portland
When Veterans See Our Own Troops Aimed Inward
By Dr. John Petrone
A Leak That Speaks Volumes
In a moment of reckless carelessness, a White House official let slip that Trump’s inner circle is planning to send the 82nd Airborne Division — one of America’s premier rapid-deployment combat divisions — into Portland. Not just the National Guard. Not federal police. But the same division that parachuted into Normandy, fought in Market Garden, and stood firm at the Battle of the Bulge. Now Trump and his enablers are plotting to unleash those troops against our own people. Against Americans exercising their constitutional rights in an American city. This is not strength — it is desperation, and it is dangerous.
The Military’s True Mission
The 82nd Airborne exists to answer the call when the nation is attacked. It is a force for rapid global deployment, trained to parachute into hostile territory and seize ground in combat. To even float the idea of turning paratroopers loose on civilians is to betray their mission, their history, and their oath.
I come from a family of veterans who know the meaning of that oath. Two of my uncles served in the Army during World War II, fighting in a war that crushed fascism abroad. My father wore the Screaming Eagle patch of the 101st Airborne in the early 1950s, carrying forward the legacy of Bastogne. My older brother went to Vietnam with the Army, enduring the cost of that divisive war. And I served six years in the U.S. Air Force. Together, we represent decades of service across multiple generations — service rooted in defending the Constitution, not in turning our uniforms against the American people.
Authoritarian Echoes
History is clear. Authoritarian regimes use their best-trained units to crush dissent at home. Whether it is dictators in South America, military juntas in Asia, or autocrats in Eastern Europe, the pattern is the same: combat divisions once meant for national defense are turned into weapons against their own people. Trump has now joined that list. The leak shows they know it will be controversial — that’s why they want “top cover” from the president if it goes wrong. They expect it to go wrong. And still they plan to proceed.
What This Really Means for Portland — and for All of Us
If Trump is willing to send the 82nd into Portland, no city is safe. Today it is Oregon. Tomorrow it could be Chicago. Or Albuquerque. Or wherever dissent grows loud enough to threaten his grip on power. This is not about law and order. It is about control. It is about using America’s premier rapid-deployment combat division as a political cudgel. It is about turning democracy into dictatorship, one deployment at a time.
How We Fight Back
Speak Out Relentlessly: Do not let this normalize. Write to your local paper. Post on social media. Challenge the narrative that this is about “order.” Make it clear: combat troops belong on foreign battlefields, not American streets.
Pressure Your Representatives: Call, email, and demand that your senators and representatives oppose any use of active-duty troops for domestic policing. Ask them to support legislation reaffirming the Posse Comitatus Act and limiting presidential overreach. Silence from Congress enables tyranny.
Veterans Must Lead: Those who wore the uniform need to remind the nation — the oath is to the Constitution, not to any president. Speak up in your communities, at VFW halls, and in public forums. The credibility of veterans is a shield against propaganda.
Support Local Leadership: Stand with mayors, governors, and local officials who resist federal militarization. They need public backing when they push back against federal overreach. Let them know you support their refusal to accept combat troops in civilian neighborhoods.
Mobilize Peacefully but Firmly: Join rallies, town halls, and civic forums. This is not the time for silence. A democracy dies not with one giant step but with a series of smaller ones when citizens fail to resist.
Stay Focused and United: Trump thrives on division. Resist the temptation to fracture. Unity is our strength — left, right, center, veteran or civilian. This is about democracy versus dictatorship, not party versus party.
The Line in the Sand
The 82nd Airborne fought to liberate Europe from fascism, just as the 101st — where my father served after the war — carried its Screaming Eagle legacy forward. My uncles fought in World War II. My brother fought in Vietnam. I served in the Air Force. My family has lived the meaning of service across generations, and I know with absolute certainty: none of us wore the uniform to see combat divisions turned against Americans in our own cities.
Trump is not just testing the boundaries of power — he is tearing down the very walls that protect liberty. The deployment of combat paratroopers against American citizens would mark a point of no return. This is the moment to say enough. Veterans, citizens, leaders — we cannot allow the 82nd Airborne to be turned against us. The battlefield is not Portland. The enemy is not the American people. The real threat to our nation sits in the Oval Office, wielding our proudest institutions like weapons against democracy itself.
The attack is from within the Whitehouse.
They are going to the extreme to stop the release of the Epstein files. There must be some VERY interesting people in them!!! PUSH BACK!!