Trump expected to address friendly crowd at American Legion convention

RENO — President Trump will be following a long tradition of presidential addresses at the American Legion's national convention when he speaks in Reno on Wednesday.

The country's largest war time veterans group routinely invites the commander-in-chief to address the men and women who fought in American wars. Last year, both Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton addressed the group. In 2012, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney spoke and President Barack Obama spoke in 2011.

But while the Legion is a strictly non-partisan service organization, Trump probably will be speaking to a largely friendly crowd.

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In a series of interviews of Legionnaires on Tuesday, members said Trump is making good progress on addressing issues with the Department of Veterans Affairs, praised what they saw as a get-tough-on-Afghanistan approach and said he deserves more time to get his feet under him during the new administration.

"He's doing great," said Philip Cerdes of Kansas. "He is doing great. It's the other people  (in Congress) that are failing."

Edward Dick of North Dakota said he appreciates Trump's tough rhetoric on terrorism.

"Like he said the other day, there will be a great deal of people who are going to be warned once and that's it, we are going to pull the trigger and take care of it," said Dick.

Marti Chapman of Indiana, who said she voted for Trump, said the president needs more time to make good on his campaign promises.

"He had a lot of good ideas during the campaign and he needs to be given a chance to show us," she said.

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Her husband, Dave Chapman, who didn't vote in the election summed up his view on Trump as: "As long as he's for the veterans, I'm for him."

Despite the bevy of positive comments in Reno, American Legion spokesman Joe Plenzler noted the organization has a diversity of viewpoints, saying the national office has received some angry phone calls about Trump's visit.

The veterans also are looking forward to Trump signing a bi-partisan bill during his visit that's aimed at speeding up the appeals process for veteran disability claims. Veterans at the convention said this is a top priority.

"Those veterans have been waiting years, years, which is unacceptable to the American Legion," said National Cmdr. Charles Schmidt. "Maybe they can find out before they die, because in some cases those appeals are outliving the veterans. That is wrong."

Indeed, Trump's speech is one of several events displaying his administration's focus on veterans. Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin spent Tuesday in Reno, meeting with veteran community leaders and signing a "Be There" resolution aimed at better preventing veteran suicides.

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Shulkin said he is committed to reducing veteran suicides by training more individuals in prevention methods, more quickly connecting people discharged from the military with necessary care and improving the Veterans Crisis Call Line answer rate.

In January, the VA was answering only 30% of calls to the crisis line. They now answer 99% of calls, Shulkin said.

"We are really redoubling our efforts to reach out to those who are isolated and not getting care and to make sure they know care is available," he said. "We just have to do more."

Trump's visit so shortly after the violence in Charlottesville, Va., has generated concern among some local officials. Councilwoman Jenny Brekhus, a Democrat, asked that he skip the speech so as not to overtax the Reno Police Department. Other elected officials, such as Republicans Gov. Brian Sandoval and Attorney General Adam Laxalt said they are glad he is coming to talk to veterans.

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Brekhus' comments did not sit well with some local veterans. Truman Passmore, a 92-year-old World War II veteran and Legion member from Reno, said the Legion's presidential invitation is about patriotism, not politics.

"I think that was absolutely ridiculous," said Passmore, describing Brekhus' statement as "provincial."

"Our president is coming to speak to the American Legion because he is our president, not because he is Trump. All of these Legionnaires are honored to have the president."

Follow Anjeanette Damon on Twitter: @AnjeanetteDamon