10,000 Vets To Caucus for Kerry - Democratic Underground

sandnsea

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Wed Jan-14-04 01:14 AM
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10,000 Vets To Caucus for Kerry

Because we are all responsible for each other.

Waterloo, IA – John Kerry, at a town hall discussion with Iowa Veterans, today announced that over 10,000 Iowa veterans will caucus for him next Monday. At the event, Kerry pledged to be a ‘veteran’s veteran’ as President, keeping vital promises to America’s veterans and military families.

Richard Bolaños, a Vietnam veteran, introduced John Kerry at the town hall meeting. Richard appeared with his brothers Luis, Ben, and Bill, all of whom served in Vietnam at the same time. The brothers traveled from El Paso, Texas to volunteer their time to help mobilize veterans for John Kerry in Iowa. The Bolaños are the only family in the United States to have had four brothers serving in Vietnam at the same time. (If you're a veterans and want to join Veterans for Kerry in Iowa, click here.)

John Kerry, who served two tours of duty in Vietnam commanding a swift boat in the Navy, made it clear that as President, keeping faith with veterans would be a personal mission.

“As veterans, we have learned that we are all responsible for each other. So much of the progress we have made in providing the proper benefits for veterans has come about because veterans remembered their brothers and sisters and never stopped fighting to take care of them,” said John Kerry to a group of Iowa veterans in Waterloo. “We need to renew our promise to keep faith with America’s veterans, and it needs to start now. I hope you will all sign this resolution so that together, we can begin the work of providing our veterans with the support they have earned.”

John Hurley, John Kerry’s National Veterans Director and Wade Sanders, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy screened the documentary “Brothers at Arms” at the beginning of the town hall meeting. The documentary tells the story of the unique friendship forged by John Kerry and his five crewmates on a swift boat in the Mekong Delta in 1969 during some of the worst fighting of Vietnam War. Interviews, photographs and archival footage of the war are an integral part of the film.

Members of the “Veterans Brigade”— a group of fifteen veterans which includes Kerry’s crewmates—joined Kerry at the town hall. The Brigade is organizing hundreds of veterans deployed across the state—gathering in homes, writing letters, making calls, hosting community meetings, and screening the documentary “Brothers in Arms”—to rally support for John Kerry.

Iowa’s Veterans for Kerry has been organizing strong grassroots support amongst Iowa’s 292,000 veterans over the past year. About 90,000 of them are registered Democrats and Independents. More than 15,000 veterans participated in the caucus in 2000.

“For those of us who came home every day is extra. I believe we – who stand here today – who have stood our ground for our country – carry the legacy of the brave soldiers who didn’t make it back, whose names are on the wall, in memorials, and in hearts all around our country. It is their contribution that lights our way. It’s up to us keep faith with their sacrifice and to ensure that promises made are promises kept,” said Kerry.

More on Kerry's promise to veterans
http://blog.johnkerry.com/blog/archives/000999.html#more