Law enforcement officials identified a Marine Corps veteran as one of the attendees shot and injured at the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump over the weekend, according to a statement from the state police and service records.

David Dutch, 57, was one of three rallygoers shot Saturday when a gunman, identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired rounds at the former president during a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania. Dutch's sister told Military.com on Monday that the Marine veteran will have a second surgery following the shooting.

Dutch, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, is a Marine Corps veteran who served during the Gulf War, according to his service record, which was provided to Military.com by the service Monday.

He is a member of the Marine Corps League, or MCL District 8, according to a social media post from the organization Sunday.

"I am sure everyone has seen the news and are appalled at how divided we have become. Well, it has finally hit home to the League. It is with great sadness that I report that one of the civilians shot at the rally was one of our own," Matt Popovich, the vice commandant, said in a now-edited post from Sunday.

Popovich said in the post that Dutch was "in critical condition, shot in the liver and chest" and "in an induced coma."

The post now does not include the comments from Popovich. Military.com cannot independently confirm Dutch's current health status and attempted to contact the Marine Corps League Department of Pennsylvania, but was unsuccessful. The release from state police lists Dutch as in "stable condition," and The New York Times reported that he remains hospitalized with liver damage and broken ribs.

Military.com contacted Jennifer Grazier, who identified herself as Dutch's sister. She confirmed his status as a Marine Corps veteran, but was reticent to comment as the investigation into the shooting is ongoing.

"He was hurt pretty bad," she said. "He's going for a second surgery. ... I just want to pray for my brother, and all the other victims and their families. And Donald Trump, I hope he's OK."

Dutch entered the Marine Corps in 1986 as an infantry assaultman, or 0351 military occupational specialty, according to his records. He served during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, leaving the service in 1992 as a corporal.

He earned the Combat Action Ribbon, which is awarded to Marines who participated in active ground or surface combat during wartime, according to the service. He also earned two Sea Service Deployment Ribbons, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Southwest Asia Service Medal.

HOLYOKE — Saturday morning broke hot and muggy, not unlike the day 78 years ago when 25 men climbed about a converted B-17 bomber to fly from Greenland to New York after the end of World War II. But the plane never made it.

Fast forward 78 years and nearly 100 people, including family members who never met those killed, sat at a memorial on that side of Mount Tom, the exact place where that plane crashed, just to remember.

“B-17 crews in World War II were often incredibly young,” said Holyoke Mayor Joshua A. Garcia Saturday morning. “They were mostly between the ages of 18 to 24. The pilot was 24 and his copilot was 23. The navigator was only 20 years old. They used to say that you grew up early in a B-17.”

Garcia said he thought of how those on board the plane must have felt as they prepared to land in Chicopee.

“I can only think as that plane entered Massachusetts airspace, their spirits were extremely high. They came from all over, but they were united in their service to the country. They were united in their eagerness to get home to their families, In the end, they are united in tragedy. We here today are united in gratitude. Also, in the firm resolve that the service and sacrifice of those young men will not be forgotten.”

On the night of July 9, 1946, that plane carrying 25 people was making its approach to Westover Field when crashed into the side of Mount Tom, killing all aboard. They were coming home after serving at Coast Guard and Air Corps facilities that made it safe for wartime flights to Europe over the North Atlantic Ocean. The plane was to make a stop at Chicopee before flying on. Their job was done and the men on board thought they were going home, finally. At about 10:21 p.m., they became more casualties of a long war. Most of them were barely out of their teens — some weren’t.

Over the years, stories about the crash faded into local folklore. Few were sure where the plane crashed or how many people were in it. Some completely forgot about the crash altogether.

Fast forward 50 years and a group of area veterans put together a fundraising effort to place a memorial at the site of the crash. In 1996, the memorial stone was dedicated and a small site carved out from the rock and brush of the mountainside along an access road.

Each year, the Mount Tom Memorial Committee holds a special service to remember those killed. An ever-growing crowd of people, most shuttled up the side of the mountain in Civil Air Patrol vans, some walking the old roadway, take up their places in the small memorial site on a day close to the July 9 anniversary, something Army Reserve Major and State Sen. John Velis, D- Westfield, said he appreciates that people take the time to remember.

“I don’t think we don’t talk about it enough in the commonwealth or as a nation, we need to talk about sacrifice more,” he said. “As crazy as the world is right now — and it’s crazy — what allows me to go to sleep at night is that young men and young women are still raising their hands to serve their country.”

Velis said he knew how those men on the B-17 felt that night. He has flown in some of those return flights after he served two tours in Afghanistan.

“I can tell you that your mind is, ‘I can’t wait to see my family. I can’t wait to do those things I haven’t done in so long.’ And the fact that they were so close,” he said, holding his fingers apart just a fraction of an inch. “The young wives, young kids at Westover waiting for them, moms and dads. Those are the sacrifices we honor here today.”

The gist of Rep. Derrick Van Orden's op-ed published earlier this month by Military.com is that former President Donald Trump has done much for U.S. military members and veterans, while President Joe Biden has been disrespectful.

That's nonsense.

Any good that veterans received during Trump's term in office came from others' efforts and in spite of -- not because of -- Trump. Most people's actions are prompted by what they think and feel. In Trump's case, he has never felt or shown respect for the U.S. military or its veterans. He has thought only of how he could use them for his own purposes.

Lest nostalgia for Trump's presidency obscure the facts, let me remind you of several:

***When running for president in January 2016, Trump skipped a Republican presidential debate for a "fundraiser" for veterans. Although he received roughly $5 million in donations and pledged an extra $1 million of his own cash, he sent the money to veterans' charities months later only after investigative reporters revealed he had not donated the funds.
Trump was fined $2 million by a judge for deceptive practices tied to the event.

***As president, he canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018. Although he falsely claimed his helicopter could not fly in the rain and the Secret Service couldn't drive him there, the truth was that keeping his hair dry was more important than honoring American war dead, as reported by The Atlantic. Trump reportedly told staffers, "Why should I go to that cemetery? It's filled with losers." Losers? Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice are losers?

***During that same trip, he also told senior staffers that the nearly 2,000 U.S. Marines who were killed at the World War I Battle of Belleau Wood were "suckers" for getting killed. American Marines, whose motto "Semper Fi" means "always faithful," are not suckers when dying for their country.

This is what he thinks of the honorable men and women who sacrifice their bodies, family time, and even their lives for an American cause greater than themselves.

But Trump doesn't, and never will, understand how a person can be true to an ideal for which he does not receive a financial reward in return. On Memorial Day 2017, while standing in front of the grave of 1st Lt. Robert Kelly, the son of Gen. John Kelly who died in Afghanistan in 2010, Trump turned to Gen. Kelly and said, "I don't get it. What was in it for them?"

Trump was similarly mystified why U.S. flags should be lowered to half-staff after Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., died, saying the "guy was a f---ng loser."

Loser? He spent five long years in North Vietnam as a prisoner of war, after being shot down while carrying out a bombing run against a heavily defended target. When offered early release as a gesture to his father, Adm. John McCain, he refused, because honorable American service members do not accept special treatment from the enemy. Trump would have accepted early release in a heartbeat, if he had served in Vietnam, which he didn't, because he dodged the draft with a deferment for Schrodinger's bone spurs. The family of the doctor who provided the diagnosis said he likely made it up as a favor to Trump's father.

Despite attending a military prep school, Trump has been contemptuous since high school of U.S. military discipline, traditions, and the idea of service to country. His anti-military contempt has continued for decades. Not only did he mock McCain for being captured, he also mocked Gold Star families before and after his first 2016 presidential campaign. During his time in office, Trump didn't even want to be seen with veteran amputees, because "it doesn't look good for me," The Atlantic reported, or to have disabled veterans participate in a patriotic parade because "nobody wants to see that." More ominously, Trump stated that certain high-ranking military members, with decades of service to our country, should be executed for treason because they disagreed with his political positions. This is not a person who has the interests of U.S. military members and veterans at heart.