'Disrespectful for veterans': U.S. Army veteran slams Donald Trump's 'Independence Arch' project

U.S. Army veteran and the United States' first official representative to Ukraine, Jon Gundersen, criticized President Donald Trump's arch project, claiming that it was disrespectful to veterans. The President unveiled his plan to build a 250-foot arch at the empty traffic circle between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial last year. The arch would be presented to the public on July 4, commemorating the country's 250th birthday. But as far as Gundersen is concerned, the project "is a monument to the ego of one man."

Speaking in an interview with MS Now, Gundersen expressed his dissatisfaction with the project. "This is not a monument to veterans. This is a monument to the ego of one man,” he said. “It's disrespectful for veterans. It's not the way to honor veterans. So we decided to do a lawsuit." Gundersen, along with two other Vietnam veterans, Michael Lemmon and Shaun Byrnes, and retired architectural historian Calder Loth, filed a federal lawsuit against President Donald Trump and the National Park Service to block the construction of a proposed 250-foot "Independence Arch" at Memorial Circle in Washington, D.C.

According to CBS, the group sued the administration to halt the construction of the arch, claiming that it was rushed and had gone ahead without proper congressional approval. Gundersen also claimed in the interview that the 250-foot structure would disrupt a symbolic connection between the Lincoln Memorial and the Robert E. Lee Memorial. The arch is going to be more than double the height of the Lincoln Memorial.

"I think what we're doing is being loyal to the country. And loyalty can be measured in different ways," Gundersen said. Byrnes claimed that he would have stood up to any administration to stop the construction of the arch. "I think it's just disrespectful to those that I served with who didn't come back, and then, of course, to all those who are lying in Arlington National Cemetery," he said. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has moved to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming the group’s lack of standing to sue.

Gundersen has been critical of a number of the Trump administration's decisions of late, including the one to go to war with Iran. "Going into Iran in a war of choice is not a way of honoring veterans," he said. "The most important way is to honor them, know their sacrifice…they're not a part of a big game plan for your own ego."

"It's a little ironic that somebody who avoided service…talks about honoring veterans," Gunderson continued. "If you honor veterans, you do it the right way…it's certainly not finding some arcane 1924 law…and justifying it. It has got to go through Congress. It has got to be reviewed by veterans and others, as have all the other monuments." The GOP administration has been facing pressure about such expenses, especially since the U.S. is at war with Iran, raising the price of gas amidst a high-inflation environment.