Why I cannot support a fellow Naval Academy Alumnus 

Dear Editor:

I am a 1969 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. Like Hung Cao, I made a career of the Navy, although I never served in combat. CAPT (Ret.) Hung Cao has an impressive resume and is owed the gratitude of the nation for the service, sacrifice, and risk he undertook to serve our country. 

Were those the only criteria, I could easily support his candidacy for Congress. But they are not.

As Naval officers, Hung Cao and I both took the same oath to “… support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic …”  

If elected to Congress, he will take that oath again. However, as I listened to his statements on the campaign, I believe that he is placing party loyalty above the oath he once took. As former Naval officers we don’t, or should not, set aside our oath simply because we no longer serve on active duty. 

During his October 2 debate with Congresswoman Wexton, when asked whether he believes Joe Biden is the elected President of the United States, he equivocated: “Joe Biden is the President of the United States; if you don’t believe me, go to your gas pumps …” 

This was an attempt to have it both ways – neither an election denier, nor a clear statement that Joe Biden is the legitimately elected President of the United States. In our constitutional democracy, it is essential that our elected leaders clearly and unequivocally support the will of the people in elections. Absent such leadership, politicians are free to override the people’s will.

Hung Cao has also supported those who attacked the Capitol and the Constitution on January 6, 2021. It is beyond belief, that a man who spent the greater part of his adult life in service to the country and the Constitution would not see such an attack by American citizens as a grave threat to the Constitution. 

History teaches that when great nations fall, most often they crumble from within. Had the January 6 insurrection succeeded, there would be only a shredded Constitution and no democracy. 

If elected, Hung Cao should be a Congressman who would use his considerable leadership skills to bring other members of the Republican Party, who conveniently follow the party line rather than their duty, back around to the oath that each took upon assuming office. Unfortunately, I do not see Hung Cao being that kind of leader and a man that I can trust to keep his oath of office. I will cast my vote for Congresswoman Wexton.

Oscar N. McNeil, Jr.

Waterford