Punk rock icons Dropkick Murphys will join military veterans on the National Mall this week to rally against recent moves by the Trump administration.
“Among the many cuts to disenfranchised populations … I think the veterans cuts are just the most egregious,” Ken Casey, Dropkick Murphys bassist and lead singer, told Military Families Magazine. “ … part of the reason people sign up to serve is because they know they should be guaranteed these benefits going forward.
“I put it on par with taking people’s social security … Veterans paid their price through risking their lives in many instances.”
Under President Donald Trump, an executive order was issued to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the Department of Defense, and an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press detailed a reorganization of the Department of Veterans Affairs that includes cutting more than 80,000 jobs. Then, in May, the president announced on social media plans to rename Veterans Day to “Victory Day for World War I,” but Military.com reports the White House backed off that idea after outcry from groups like the Disabled American Veterans who released a statement on May 2 simply stating, “No.”
This prompted Marine veteran Joseph Plenzler, a board member for We the Veterans and Military Families, to join Union Veterans Council Executive Director Will Artig and Chamberlain Network CEO Chris Purdy, also veterans, in organizing the Unite 4 Veterans D-Day rally.
“Veterans are not happy,” Plenzler told Military Families Magazine. “At the baseline, that’s the message. We want to provide veterans a possible space to come together from all backgrounds and find community.”
The rally will take place at 2 p.m. on June 6 and feature “everyday veterans” sharing how they have been personally affected by cuts. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and former Pennsylvania Rep. Conor Lamb are among the expected speakers in addition to the Dropkick Murphys performance.
Plenzler, who served for 20 years then transitioned into the nonprofit space, said the military community became alarmed watching cuts to the federal workforce — VA in particular.
Veterans make up one-third of the federal workforce, and while Plenzler said there’s an “argument to be made” for government being too big, you “typically don’t just cut off the whole bottom of new hires.”
“You cannot run a government like you run a Silicon Valley startup,” Plenzler added.
Speaking during a May 30 media roundtable, Purdy said they see themselves as the “standard bearers of generations of veterans” dating back to the Bonus Army of 1942.
“There is a proud tradition in the veteran community of advocacy and speaking out for our rights,” Purdy said. “Today the fight is no different.”
However, Unite 4 Veterans doesn’t want special treatment. Instead, it is “demanding” that basic promises be fulfilled — like protecting jobs and ensuring access to health care services.
Anna Kelly, the White House deputy press secretary, provided the following statement to Military Families Magazine in response to the Unite 4 Veterans rally:
“President Trump has consistently stood up for our military families – delivering crucial reforms that improved VA health care, decreased veteran homelessness, and enhanced education benefits. His efforts to make agencies more efficient will ensure our government can better serve all Americans, especially our veterans and their loved ones.”
The other important piece, according to Plenzler, is that the event is nonpartisan, and Unite 4 Veterans has been vocal across political lines in the past, such as the Afghanistan evacuation under President Joe Biden.
“When you join military, we are the one discreet class of people in the country who swore an oath to defend the Constitution, and having come from all different corners of the United States … Everybody put aside all the things that made them different to defend the country,” Plenzler said.
Every state is sending a delegation to the rally, according to Purdy, who anticipates an attendance of roughly 20,000. Attendees will learn “what to do next” and how they can mobilize in their own communities.
“At the end of the day, this is not a Washington movement, this is a grassroots movement,” Purdy said.
For Casey and the rest of Dropkick Murphys, they’re viewing the protest more as a celebration of unity.
“What I like about being involved in this one is that I think that the veterans speaking up about their treatment, those that are supporting this current regime, makes it a little more uncomfortable for them to look in the mirror when they have to face the facts that veterans are being treated unfairly,” Casey said.
For more information, visit the Unite 4 Veterans website.
