Hundreds of Danish Veterans, many of whom fought alongside U.S. troops in the Middle East, held a silent protest Saturday outside the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen in response to the Trump administration’s threats to seize Greenland and minimize their contributions to combat.
“Denmark has always stood with the United States – and we have appeared in crisis zones around the world when the United States asked us to. We feel disappointed and ridiculed by the Trump administration, which is deliberately ignoring Denmark’s fight alongside the United States,” Danish Veterans & Veteran Support said in a statement.
“Words cannot describe how much it hurts us that Denmark’s contributions and sacrifices in the fight for democracy, peace and freedom are forgotten in the White House,” he said.
Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images 
Danish veterans are furious at the White House’s rhetoric, which ignores the right to self-determination of Greenland, a territory of NATO ally Denmark. They also strongly oppose President Trump’s assertion that Denmark is incapable of protecting the West’s security interests in the Arctic.
On Saturday, veterans first gathered at a monument honoring Denmark’s fallen service members, then marched to the nearby U.S. Embassy, where they observed five minutes of silence — one for the Danish Army, one for the Air Force, one for the Navy, one for the Emergency Management Agency and one for the police.
“We also want to tell the Americans that what Trump said is an insult to us and to the values we defended together,” Soren Knudsen, vice-president of the Danish Veterans Association, told Agence France-Presse.
He added that organizers were pleasantly surprised by the support they received.
“It all started within the association and turned into a big event,” Knudsen said.
Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images 
Danish veteran Martin Aaholm, who served in Afghanistan alongside US troops and lost both legs to an improvised explosive device, said CBS News earlier this week that he feels “angry and betrayed” by Mr. Trump’s comments on Greenland and Denmark.
“I sacrificed a lot of friends, family, girlfriends, all because I was on the right track to help America after 9/11,” he said, adding that it was worth helping America. “I was amazed that we, little Denmark, could answer the call. I was amazed that we were able to fight with the big guys.”
“I think America has lost its soul. This is not the America I grew up in, where America was the defender of world peace and wanted to spread democracy,” Aaholm added.
Forty-four Danish soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, the highest death toll per capita among coalition forces. Eight others died in Iraq.
Tensions further escalated on Tuesday when 44 Danish flags – one for each Danish soldier killed in Afghanistan – that had been placed in front of the embassy were removed by embassy staff.
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The embassy apologized and replaced them.
“We have only the deepest respect for Danish veterans and for the sacrifices Danish soldiers made for our common security. There was no bad intention behind the removal of the flags,” he said in a message posted on his Facebook page.
The State Department later said that as a general rule, custodial staff removed items left behind following protests and other “legitimate free speech exercises.” The flags were returned to those who left them, the press release said.
