To the editor:

In a couple of weeks, Virginia voters, many of them military and former military, will go to the polls to vote in the presidential primaries.

In the contentious GOP primary, Donald Trump continues to lead in the various polls, despite having no concrete plans to implement his proposals and insulting every other candidate.

His supporters say they like the fact that he speaks his mind. I have no trouble with people speaking their minds, but one can speak one’s mind without being rude, crude and insulting.

The insult that sticks with me the most was when Trump said John McCain was not a hero and that he preferred military members who didn’t get captured.

I’m not sure of Trump’s definition of a hero, but John McCain flew 23 combat missions over North Vietnam. He was shot down, seriously injured, captured and tortured for more than five years, and he refused early release under the honor code of “first in, first out.”

In these days when we recognize the ravages of post-traumatic stress disorder, to return from more than five years as a prisoner of war and serve a long and distinguished career as a senator is nothing short of amazing.

Trump wants to be the commander in chief of our armed forces. I hope my comrades-in-arms remember his insult of a former POW when they go to the polls.

Richard Vroman

Suffolk