5 years at war-have you hugged a veteran today?
Three men gathered for a press conference today, outside the Veteran’s Outreach Building, South Ave, Rochester, on the five year anniversary of the United States pre-emptive attack on Iraq. These three men are candidates for congress in the 25th, 26th, and 29th Congressional Districts of New York State-(from left) Eric Massa (29th), Jon Powers (26th), and Dan Maffei (25th).
Eric Massa spoke first saying that the Veteran’s outreach was picking up where the Federal Government was falling down. His vision is for the country to come together as a nation and make the sacrifices necessary. Here’s comments from the other two.
Jon Powers: At this 5 year anniversary, this war has become the 3rd longest in American history, but our resources for those returning home are sorely lacking. Wait time for Veterans to receive medical care can be greater than 6 months. Suicide rate among veterans is the highest it’s been in 26 years. Those suffering from PTSD, or traumatic brain injury can not afford the wait. Washington continues to fail our Veteran. The VA outreach program is a “Beacon of Hope” for returning Vets.
Dan Maffei: The country is in default of it’s debt to the returning Veterans.
On getting out of Iraq:
Eric: 5 years is too long-bottom line: rebuild this nation, not Iraq
Dan: Our military has done the best job it can do, under the circumstances, but this is no longer a military mission.
Jon: Bring them home-”Safely, Securely and Soon”.
It was cold and rainy and we stood there, many without umbrellas, getting wet and cold. The press conference had to be held outside, as being a “Not for Profit”, it was not allowed inside the building. Not a nice day for an outdoor event, but we were reminded by Navy Veteran, Eric Massa, that as cold and miserable as we were, standing outside today, what we felt was nothing in comparison to what was endured, on a daily basis, by our men and women in uniform, performing their duties in Iraq and Afghanistan. I was humbled.
Update: coverage by channel 10
channel 13 (thanks Z!)
Great job covering this.
13WHAM has interviews… not sure how to link to each video, but…
http://www.13wham.com/mediacenter/local.aspx
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Damn, they’re good. Really, really good. They make me proud to be a Democrat.
Powers, Maffei and Massa - “ALL THE WAY TO WASHINGTON!”
Thanks for renewing hope. These days that’s not so easy to do.
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