<img src="https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=68661760&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C229%2C0%2C230"/><br/><br/><p>Former U.S. Marine Bob Mash, 83, did not come to the Veterans Day Parade in New York City to be honored for his service — he came to protest the deaths of children.</p><p>Mash, who fought in the Vietnam War, shouted over the sound of patriotic music and a roaring crowd to express his outrage with President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/pete-hegseth-veterans-boos-new/" target="_blank">Pete Hegseth</a>, and those who support the deadly conflicts in Iran and Palestine.</p><p>"We're participating in genocide," Mash told Raw Story. "I love the people, and I love the country, but my government is criminal."</p><p>Mash, a member of the group Veterans for Peace, said he and fellow vets felt honor-bound to protest the Trump administration's ongoing war in Iran that has claimed the lives of <a href="https://www.stripes.com/theaters/middle_east/2026-10-29/pentagon-iran-war-troops-deaths-23299434.html" target="_blank">23 Americans </a>and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/how-many-people-have-been-killed-us-israel-war-iran-2026-04-07/" target="_blank">thousands of Iranians</a>.</p><p>Those Iranian deaths include more than 270 children, according to <a href="https://www.amnestyusa.org/blog/u-s-responsible-for-killing-over-100-children-in-iran-school-attack/" target="_blank">Amnesty International</a>.</p><p>Meanwhile, the U.S. gives Israel roughly $<a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/11/09/nx-s1-6029320/us-trump-israel-military-aid" target="_blank">4 billion a year</a>, and the Trump administration is considering a plan to shift aid to Israel from the State Department to the Pentagon to facilitate future collaborations.</p><p>The United Nations Human Rights Council revealed last month that it found evidence that Israeli forces had committed war crimes that include rape, torture and the <a href="https://www.un.org/unispal/document/israel-has-committed-war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity-in-the-opt-amid-continuing-genocide-in-gaza-un-commission-of-inquiry-finds/" target="_blank">deliberate killing of children</a>.</p><p>"Giving Israel all that money to kill innocent women and children?" Mash said on Wednesday. "This country is a disgrace."</p><p>Mash and his fellow veterans at the demonstration were surrounded by children who both came to watch the parade march up Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and participate in it.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image image-crop-4x3"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="197b1b1cc874874c450a28cc5b21cfea" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="af098" loading="lazy" src="https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=68660627&width=2000&height=1500&quality=50&coordinates=457%2C16%2C1153%2C1192"/><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">A little girl watches the Veterans Day Parade in New York City on Nov. 11, 2026. Photo by Kathleen Culliton | Raw Story</small></p><p>Mash watched alongside an old friend, a veteran of the Peace Corps who asked to be identified only as a concerned citizen, who also decried the killing of children in Palestine and Iran.</p><p>The Peace Corps vet told Raw Story he served in Iran, a country of "beautiful people" who couldn't help that their rulers were "lunatics."</p><p>"Resign, get the hell out of the country," was his message to Trump and Hegseth. "They are war criminals."</p><p>While Mash and his friends' defiance took the form of outrage, another group further down Fifth Avenue challenged the Trump administration's rhetoric with music and dancing.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e7b69b0c30e645c5365ba3a73a56830a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="3f585" loading="lazy" src="https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=68660563&width=980"/><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">There was music and dancing aboard the Haitian American Veterans Association float at the Veterans Day Parade in New York City on Nov. 11, 2026. Photo by Kathleen Culliton | Raw Story</small></p><p>This was aboard the Haitian American Veterans Association float, whose occupants want the nation to know their citizens have risked their lives to protect the U.S. </p><p>Haitians have been targeted for years by Trump, who notoriously campaigned on a mass deportation platform and supported it on the <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/trump-kamalaa-debate/" target="_blank">false claim that Haitian migrants were eating pets</a>.</p><p>Now his Department of Homeland Security is targeting Haitian migrants — <a href="https://abcnews.com/US/democratic-lawmakers-answers-8-year-haitian-boy-ice/story?id=138019026" target="_blank">some as young as 8 years old</a> — who have lost their Temporary Protected Status under an immigration crackdown that sees them sent out of this <a href="https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2093111596348293308" target="_blank">country in chains</a>. </p><p>Hortense St. Preux told Raw Story on Wednesday that she came to remind the U.S. of the contributions her fellow Haitians have made to this country.</p><p>"It is hard for them to accept us — so it's easier to reject us," said St. Preux. "You call us illegal, but we still go to school. We work."</p><p>She recalled with pride her nation's historic ouster of French enslavers during the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Haitian-Revolution" target="_blank">Haitian Revolution</a> from 1791 to 1804, 61 years before the U.S. ratified the 13th Amendment and abolished slavery.</p><p>"We taught them how to live free," she said.</p><p>Haitian American Veterans Association founder Dr. Fritz Fils-Aime told Raw Story he felt it was imperative to attend the parade, considering the current political climate.</p><p>"We need to show we're part of the fabric of this country," said Fils-Aime. </p><p>The Vietnam War veteran's message to Trump? "Leave our country alone."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="230e8996f6b7747a2cbc4b9c670f32be" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="11328" loading="lazy" src="https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=68660890&width=980"/><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Haitian American Veterans Association founder Dr. Fritz Fils-Aime attends the Veterans Day Parade in New York City on Nov. 11, 2026. Photo by Kathleen Culliton | Raw Story </small></p><p>Not all the veterans Raw Story spoke to wanted to discuss Trump. </p><p>Laurent Lynch, 80, a Vietnam War veteran, refrained from discussing politics with Raw Story but said he wanted troops deployed abroad only to know, "We're behind them."</p><p>Lynch said he was proud to have served in the U.S. Army as his father and brother had. </p><p>When asked if he felt this Veterans Day was affected by the U.S. war with Iran, the vet said simply, "We're always getting into something."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="65395ac374d5dd8733399ff5d258a53b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="3a57f" loading="lazy" src="https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=68661566&width=980"/> <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Laurent Lynch, 80, a Vietnam War veteran, attends the Veterans Day Parade in New York City on Nov. 11, 2026. Photo by Kathleen Culliton | Raw Story</small></p> via Raw Story https://ift.tt/b7OsmI9
