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I come from a family with the very deepest respect for our nation’s veterans and active-duty military.

When my three brothers and I were small boys, we learned this admiration from our father, Alton S. Cartwright. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, our dad made the decision to leave college to volunteer for the Army, where he served honorably for the duration of World War II.

It’s a respect that families have when they have had a family member serve.

And it’s a regard that I believe that everyone in Northeastern Pennsylvania understands.

I think we owe it to our men and women in uniform to use the utmost care in selecting the president of the United States. Giving this person the power to send our children and grandchildren into harm’s way requires a most sober assessment of his or her qualifications, knowledge, experience, temperament, and maturity. And one thing especially necessary is a high level of respect for the military.

When it comes to displaying those needed qualities, the current presidential candidates offer starkly different records.

To begin with, keeping our young service members out of unwinnable and potentially unending conflicts requires hard work at the business of diplomacy and international relations. As a senator and as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton developed a deep understanding of foreign policy and America’s options to forward our goals, principles, and ideals around the world. She worked to restore America’s global leadership after it was badly eroded by eight years of near go-it-alone policies. She oversaw significant accomplishments, from building a global coalition to impose crippling sanctions against Iran, to brokering a ceasefire in Gaza and protecting Israel, to supporting the decision to bring Osama bin Laden to justice.

She understands how to combine the judicious threat of U.S. military force with effective and sensible diplomacy. This is the kind of well-developed, discerning approach to foreign policy that reflects a real understanding of the toll war takes on America’s military families. And it reflects a level of respect that our military deserves in a commander in chief.

Knowing these things, I was not surprised to learn that Mrs. Clinton’s own father, Hugh Rodham, who is buried in West Scranton, served in the Navy in World War II. She also speaks of learning respect for the military at a very young age from her father.

In contrast, over the course of this year, almost unbelievably, Donald Trump has at key times expressed the opposite regard for our military and those who serve in it. Perhaps it’s part of his bravado-only personality that stems from his careers as a real estate mogul in New York and Atlantic City and as a reality TV star famous for firing people around a boardroom conference table, but it does not work well in the arena of managing our armed services and America’s delicate international security.

You need to start those difficult tasks with an understanding that our military is the best-trained, most professional fighting force in the world.

This year, Trump ridiculed U.S. Sen. John McCain for having been a prisoner of war.

Then there was a 27-year old Army captain named Humayun Khan. On June 8, 2004, Capt. Khan was inspecting a guard post in Baqubah, Iraq, and ordered his men to stay back while he approached a suspicious vehicle. The vehicle held 200 pounds of explosives, which killed Capt. Khan and two suicide bombers in the car. Khan’s actions saved his men’s lives.

Capt. Khan was a hero.

But Trump showed little hesitation criticizing this Army captain’s Gold Star family, who had raised these same concerns about Trump’s regard for America’s military. Trump even claimed that he had similarly sacrificed by working hard to become a successful commercial real estate developer.

Even the normally reserved, dutiful and Republican-loyal Gen. Colin Powell has called the behavior a “national disgrace.” Clearly, we need a better direction.

The good news is that we do have a better option on the table. Hillary Clinton is eager to lead by respecting and trusting our soldiers, sailors, Air Force, and Marines. She wants to project confidence in America’s principles internationally through her confidence in those who serve our nation – their actions, their devotion, and their wisdom. That’s a potential commander in chief with a keen eye on effectiveness, and a leadership approach we can all support.

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Matt Cartwright

Guest columnist

Matt Cartwright, a Democrat, is a U.S. congressman serving the 17th District, which includes portions of Luzerne and Lackawanna counties. He lives in Moosic.