Commentary; Posted: 8/8/07
Vets for Freedom starts state chapter
On Thursday, Aug. 2, Vets for Freedom, a non-partisan organization of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, launched its Minnesota chapter to educate Members of Congress and fellow citizens about the need to support the U.S. mission in Iraq.
The effort began with a television ad thanking Sen. Norm Coleman for supporting General Petraeus’s counterinsurgency strategy, which is already showing strong signs of progress.
“As our Senators and Representatives return to their home states for August, Iraq veterans will be organizing and standing up across the country to make our pro-mission, pro-victory voices heard,” said Pete Hegseth, executive director of Vets for Freedom.
Hegseth is a native of Forest Lake and served with the 101st Airborne in Baghdad and Samarra in 2005-2006.
“These Minnesota vets know first-hand the need to fight and defeat al-Qaeda in Iraq and they understand the devastating consequences of an early surrender.”
Vets for Freedom leadership team in Minnesota will be responsible for organizing local veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan to contact their Senators and Representatives and to share their support for the mission with their fellow Minnesotans. David Thul, a recently returned Iraq veteran from Owatonna, will serve as the state chairman.
“Veterans who have served in Iraq can provide a viewpoint that no pundit, paid MoveOn.org protester, or poll company can compete with,” Thul said. “We know the exhaustion of keeping watch in our humvees through the early hours of the morning, the joy on children’s faces when we drive by, and the exhilaration of a successful project completed. All folks see back home is explosions - we have a much more in-depth perspective.”
Vets for Freedom produced the “Thank You” ad with several Iraq veterans.
It will run in Minnesota in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Duluth, and Rochester markets.
“Minnesotans are being misled by well-funded MoveOn.org front groups on television. Minnesota’s Iraq and Afghanistan veterans want to set the record straight and ensure that General Petraeus has the resources, time and support he needs to complete the mission,” Hegseth said.
The ad can be seen at the Vets for Freedom website: www.vetsforfreedom.org.
Vets for Freedom is a nonpartisan organization established by combat veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Its mission is to educate the American public about the importance of achieving success in these conflicts by applying our first-hand knowledge to issues of American strategy and tactics — namely “the surge” in Iraq. Vets for Freedom is the leading voice representing troops and veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. For more information, please visit www.vetsforfreedom.org.
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