are ripping Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner after resurfaced posts showed him calling the Army “full of fat, lazy trash” and mocking a soldier who was shot multiple times in combat before receiving a Purple Heart.
“I am a decorated veteran, and people need to understand what serving in the Army cost me: congestive heart failure, bilateral hearing loss, COPD, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, hypothyroidism and PTSD,” Holland “Ricky” White, a Vietnam War veteran who served in the Armys 173rd Airborne Brigade, told Fox News Digital.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade, also known as “The Herd,” was one of the first ground combat units to deploy to Vietnam, where it endured some of the wars most intense fighting.
“I understand ridicule better than most. I was ridiculed not only as a Vietnam veteran, but as a black man as well,” White continued. “I lost friends over there, and it still hurts to talk about them. I often ask God, Why did You spare me and not my friends? I believe God wasnt done with me when I came home, and thats why I continue trying to make a difference today.”
“ââThat is why comments like Grahams are so offensive,” White said.
The backlash adds to a mounting controversy over Platners deleted Reddit account as the veteran-turned-oyster farmer seeks to challenge Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in one of the nations most closely watched 2026 Senate races. Platner has leaned heavily on his military background in pitching himself to Maine voters, but the resurfaced posts threaten to derail his campaign as his use of slurs, embrace of socialism and criticism of the armed forces come under scrutiny.Â
Perhaps Platners most controversial Reddit post came in 2019 when he sharply criticized a soldier who was shot multiple times by the Taliban in 2012.Â
“Dumb motherf—er didn’t deserve to live. At least his stupidity and fat a– wheezing are available for all future infantrymen to witness and hold in contempt,” , reacting to combat footage another user had posted. “Poor marksmanship on the Taliban’s part is the only reason this mouthbreather made it home.”
The video that Platner was commenting on came from the helmet cam of U.S. Army veteran Ted Daniels, who was shot four times and awarded the Purple Heart.Â
“As a Purple Heart recipient myself â having been wounded for my country, I find his comments to be especially vile,” Steve, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan who has built a large social media following, told Fox News Digital. “Mocking a fellow American that took enemy fire, to protect his squad shows a lack of basic understanding of brotherhood and selfless service.”
Steve requested that Fox News Digital withhold his last name for privacy reasons.
Platner expressed a general distaste for the Army in his .
“I spent another 4 in the Army after the Corps, and while I was very lucky to serve in some sh–t hot units with good dudes, as a whole the organization is absolute trash,” Platner wrote in April 2019. “As an organization its awful. Full of fat, lazy trash who would rather not be in uniform.”
“A Senator who calls soldiers trash and mocks a mans Purple Heart has shown who he really is,” Bill Brown, a in Iraq, told Fox News Digital. “A Senator votes to send soldiers to war, confirms the generals who lead them, and funds the equipment that protects them. Platner’s own words in his deleted post prove he cant be trusted to do right by those that protect us.”
“Being a veteran does not make someone honorable. Honor is how you carry yourself, how you treat others, and how you speak about those who served beside you. In this case, the uniform may have been earned, but respect clearly was not,” Kate Monroe, the CEO of VETCOMM and a Marine Corps veteran, told Fox News Digital.
John Rourke, a retired Army staff sergeant who saw combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom, seconded Monroes sentiments, saying that Platner’s mockery doesn’t “make
