Today's election marks the end of an epic, historic campaign season that included witches, a rally for sanity, the Tea Party and a journalist handcuffed by a campaign. From Whitman to Reid to Miller, candidates have spent more than ever, fought more than ever and given us an election cycle of firsts.
But there is another first no one is really talking about: the surge of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans running this year. Today, 27 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan will seek national office.
This is nearly four times the number of veterans of those wars currently serving in Congress. Twenty-five are campaigning for House seats and two are running for the Senate. Eighteen are running as Republicans, nine as Democrats. They are as ideologically diverse as the electorate they hope to represent and share only one agenda item: their desire to continue their service.
This wave of veterans -- The New Vet 27 -- is the beginning of a much larger movement developing in American politics and society. They represent the next greatest generation of troops who are committed to serving our country long after they get home from war. Whether they win or lose in their campaigns, for those of us who have served, their initiative is inspiring, especially after a decade of war during which recent veterans have often been portrayed as either villains or victims.
They are a dynamic group of young men (unfortunately, no female veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan are running in this cycle) who are familiar with a little crossfire. They definitely know how to fight back when attacked. And their bios read like something out of a movie.
Tommy Sowers, Duncan Hunter Jr., Adam Kinzinger and Joe Sestak are just a few in this wave. Sowers served two tours in Iraq as a Green Beret, taught at West Point, and is running in Missouri in Rush Limbaugh's home district. Hunter served as a Marine in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and is up for reelection in a part of California with a huge concentration of active duty troops.
Kinzinger, an Air Force pilot renowned for saving a Milwaukee woman from a knife-wielding attacker, returned from his third deployment to Iraq in May 2009 and is running to represent a congressional district in Illinois. And three-star Navy Admiral Joe Sestak is trading in command of a carrier battle group supporting combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for an opportunity to tackle the Senate representing Pennsylvania.
On the front lines, The New Vet-27 served to a different degree than 99 percent of Americans. They saw firsthand the enormous cost of America's decision to send young men and women to war. They were tested, they served with honor -- and they survived. Now, they're ready to put their military values and skills to use in a new kind of battle.
As veterans, they know the ramifications of foreign policy decisions, the struggles for quality health-care coverage, and the challenges of getting a college education. They also know how to make tough decisions under pressure. And they are looking for that next mission that allows them to keep serving. They represent new blood, but they're not the first generation to make this transition. Our democracy is rooted in this historical precedent.
Since George Washington first set aside his General rank to seek office, declaring, "When we assumed the soldier, we did not lay aside the citizen," veterans have long been part of a tradition of political service in this country. World War II and Korea created a wave in Washington as many former warriors used the GI Bill to earn their college education and transition into public service. John F. Kennedy, George H.W. Bush, John Warner, Daniel Akaka, Robert Dole, Max Cleland, John Murtha, John Kerry, Jim Webb and John McCain are just a few veterans in our nation's recent history who carried their oath to serve from combat to Capitol Hill.
But The New Vet-27 hoping to take the oath of office comes at a critical juncture for our country. The American public has never been more disconnected from the costs and consequences of war. And Washington is no exception. Despite being immersed in two wars, the veteran ranks on Capitol Hill are rapidly disappearing.
Many World War II and Korea vets have died or retired, and there are only three Vietnam vets currently serving in the Senate (McCain, Webb and Kerry). After tomorrow's election, there is a significant likelihood veterans will hold less than a fifth of the seats in Congress -- a sharp contrast from 1969 when veterans held a record 75 percent of the seats in the wake of World War II and Korea.
When polls close, The New Vet 27 might not all capture seats, but they do represent an important sign of things to come for our country. And troops thousands of miles away in Iraq and Afghanistan will have an eye on them. After Tuesday, there is no telling how many of the 2.1 million veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan will end up in Congress in the years to come. But if history is any guide, the country should expect quite a few. And likely one or two in the White House.
Crossposted at IAVA.org.
Follow Paul Rieckhoff on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PaulRieckhoff
I really want to see your editorials and on the TV machine - with the Republican take-over of the House (and that's the only place things get done), who of our newly elected Senators and Representatives will take up the mantle for our returning servicemen and women. You've provided stark, clear, analysis of what needs to be done for our returning veterans. I need to hear your voice, and who will take that stand.
Thank you for your service, thank you for all you do for veterans, and gosh thank you for being so cute.
Peace brother!
medical deferments to get out of the service during the Vietnam war
as those who actually served during the war.
John Boehner (a bad back that has seemingly not affected his golf game)
Saxby Chambliss (bad knees due to a football injury) &
Mitch McConnell (who either had an eyesight problem or claims to have enrolled in NYU,
NYU has stated they never received an application from him and McConnell to this day
refuses to discuss anything medical or related to his basic training).
Notice they're all from one party and all either voted for or supported the War in Iraq
I'm truly sorry Mr. Rieckhoff, but cheerleading for veterans, any veteran, merely because they are veterans is no way to choose candidates for office. In your own words, you said the current veterans are "ideologically diverse." Also, implicit in your arguments, was that somehow, because these veterans had seen the horrors of war up close, they would make wiser and more cautious decisions about committing American personnel to future wars.
Sorry, sir, I don't buy that at all. Every candidate, veteran or otherwise, should be evaluated in part based on their specific views on when war is justified and when it is not. Are those who have participated in war more or less likely to support the use of force to resolve conflicts? You pointed out that there are 18 veterans running as Republicans. Have they called the two Republican-started wars "imperialism?" Have they called those wars unjustified? How about the Democratic vets? Have they?
I don't dismiss for a minute that these men made real sacrifices and put their own safety on the line. I accept that their original intent "to serve" may have been honorable. But let's not dismiss the thousands of revelations in the recent Wikileaks papers. These papers show a broad pattern of abuse by US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Read this: http://www.truth-out.org/iraq-war-vet-we-were-told-just-shoot-people-and-officers-would-take-care-us58378
Did you see the video of US troops gunning down unarmed Iraqis who were trying to surrender? "The footage clearly shows an unprovoked slaughter, and is shocking to watch whilst listening to the casual conversation of the soldiers in the background."
"Something else we were encouraged to do, almost with a wink and nudge, was to carry 'drop weapons', or by my third tour, 'drop shovels'. We would carry these weapons or shovels with us because if we accidentally shot a civilian, we could just toss the weapon on the body, and make them look like an insurgent."
Is this a war crime even though the soldiers were "just following orders?":
"One time they said to fire on all taxicabs because the enemy was using them for transportation.... One of the snipers replied back, 'Excuse me? Did I hear that right? Fire on all taxicabs?' The lieutenant colonel responded, 'You heard me, trooper, fire on all taxicabs.' After that, the town lit up, with all the units firing on cars. This was my first experience with war, and that kind of set the tone for the rest of the deployment."
What about this?:
"Vincent Emanuele, a Marine rifleman who spent a year in the al-Qaim area of Iraq near the Syrian border, told of emptying magazines of bullets into the city without identifying targets, running over corpses with Humvees and stopping to take "trophy" photos of bodies."
No one is talking about Iraq and Afghanistan at all!
Republicans are likely to make big gains in Congress, and they've done it by very successfully distracting voters from how they got us into two horrible wars of choice, that have needlessly cost thousands of American lives and hundreds of thousands of foreign civilians. It's an embarrassment for them, so they're hiding from it. It's all about the economy now, people are more concerned about taxes and their money than they are about American soldiers fighting and dying in some foreign land that we have no business being in. I've watched several debates, and in almost every one of them, the subject of the wars was not even mentioned. It's like we want to pretend it's not really happening. We give lip service to the troops, saying we honor their service and such, but when it comes to actually doing something to fix the problem, we don't have time because we're more concerned about our stock portfolios and paying higher property taxes.
I hope getting more veterans into Congress will change this, I really do. It's a step in the right direction, that's for sure.
And thank you, Paul, for bring them to our attention and also for all the other hard work that you do on behalf of America's veterans!