Hey Donald Trump — Here's a Purple Heart Recipient Who Wants to Meet You

Sean Davis speaks quietly, passionately. "I just couldn't believe what I was hearing," he says. "I was sure I had heard it wrong. That there must have been a context that I was missing."

It was Tuesday morning. Davis, a community leader in Northeast Portland and one of a handful of candidates to run for mayor this spring, was starting his day as he always does — by going online, scanning Twitter, seeing what was news.

"I saw the clip of Trump in Florida, saying how he had always wanted a Purple Heart, how a veteran had given him one, and how easy it was," Davis says.

"I started looking for longer versions of what he had said."

Davis was disappointed.

"I really wanted there to be more," he says. "I have a Purple Heart. It's not something that I wanted. It's not something that I am glad I have.

"And for him to say that he had always wanted one says to me that he had no idea what it was that it was in his hand."

It was June 13, 2004. Davis and his unit were in Taji, Iraq.

"We had been given a mission to find an arms dealer," Davis says. "The problem is that he found us before we found him."

A vehicle pulled up next to the Humvee that Davis and his gunner were in. It was packed with explosives. The blast critically injured Davis, killed his good friend who had been acting as his gunner.

His driver, who pulled him from the Humvee, was hit by shrapnel as he shielded Davis with his own body. He got a Purple Heart.

Another member of Davis' unit ran to them with a medic bag. He was critically injured. He also received a Purple Heart that day.

"No one — not me — not any of those people wanted a Purple Heart," Davis says. "It's been 12 years, and it is something that I still deal with every day.

"I had many broken bones, I was unconscious. I suffered a brain injury that I still work to overcome every day.”

And he faces each day with a courage many will never know. Davis teaches English at Mount Hood Community College. He works as a firefighter battling wildland fires. He is the post commander at the American Legion Post 134 here in town.

Even after being critically injured in Iraq, Davis continued to serve.

When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, Davis — as a member of the Oregon National Guard — was deployed down there to help people recover, help the city recover. With bodies in the streets, houses on top of houses, boats on top of houses, it was an experience he likens to his service in Iraq.

“You don’t live through these things and have them not stick with you,” he says. “None of this stuff is ever done for reward, for medals. If you have a Purple Heart, there is a good chance that something went very wrong.

“And that’s what I don’t think Trump understands.”

Davis could not get Trump’s comments out of his head.

He wanted to respond but wasn’t sure how. He ended up leaving a comment on a video page from ABC News. Someone he knew at The Good Men Project saw and asked him to write something.

“My first reaction was anger and indignation,” Davis wrote in his “open letter” to Trump. “How could someone give something I hold sacred to you?”

Davis had a realization.

“I don’t own the medal,” he says. “I don’t own the war, and I certainly don’t own what it means to be a veteran. These are all things that belong to each individual. For me the medal was something that I gave to my son and I believe it had an affect on who he became.

“Maybe receiving the medal will have a similar effect on Trump.”

Davis says that he is not a party person. He is not particularly a fan of Hillary Clinton. He is a “person who votes for candidates.

“What upsets me, disturbs me, is how veterans are being treated. We are not props to be trotted out when elections roll around. By writing to Trump, am I guilty of doing the same sort of thing? I don’t know.

“Patriotism is a dangerous thing because it blinds people to real issues. It worries me, the direction we’re going in.”

Davis would like to sit down with Trump, see if he is interested in listening.

“We’re all different, and he may not be interested in anything I have to say,” Davis says. “He certainly is someone who is willing to say what’s on his mind, and I may not agree with a lot of it — what he said about Senator McCain for instance. I may not agree with everything John McCain says, but he spent five years in hell.

“And Trump called him a loser. That was kind of remarkable.”

Davis would still like to have the conversation.

“I heard him say that only he can solve problems,” Davis says. “And I want to tell him that we are all in this together, and not one of us can do it on our own. I want him to know that the Purple Heart is never something that you want.

“I want him to know I have one and wish I didn’t.”

Photos courtesy Sean Davis