Editor,

Which presidential candidate has done the most to benefit veterans?

When Hillary was in the Senate, she:

Co-sponsored the Retired Pay Restoration Acts of 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2007, increasing retirement and disability pay for all disabled veterans.

Co-sponsored the Military Survivor Benefit Improvement Act of 2005, increasing benefits to families of fallen soldiers from $12,000 to $100,000.

Introduced the Heroes at Home Act of 2006 to help family members care for veterans with PTSD or traumatic brain injuries.

Introduced legislation in 2008 to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act to provide up to six months unpaid leave to care for a wounded family member.

In 1991 and 2004, Donald Trump tried to get disabled veterans banned from selling their wares in front of Trump Tower, asking city officials: “Do we allow Fifth Ave., one of the world’s finest and most luxurious shopping districts, to be turned into an outdoor flea market?” And saying: “Whether they are veterans or not, [the vendors] should not be allowed to sell on this most important and prestigious shopping street.”

But, in 2015, the hullabaloo about his careless disrespect for POWs — “I like people who weren’t captured” — caused Trump to suddenly love veterans.

On Sept. 15, he held a fundraiser at $100,000 a ticket for Veterans for a Strong America, an organization that had only one member — Joel Arends, an anti-Obama activist — and had lost its tax-exempt status before the fundraiser.

On Jan. 28, Trump held another fundraiser for veterans to which he said he donated $1 million of his own money. Four months later on May 24, no recipient of the money could be found.

When the story broke, Trump scrambled to send out checks dated that day. After that fundraiser, Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said, “If offered, IAVA will decline donations from Trump’s event. We need strong policies from candidates, not to be used for political stunts.”

Ann Adams

Oak Harbor