ANKENY, Iowa - The Ron Paul 2012 Presidential campaign announced today the names of 20 Iowans joining the "Veterans for Ron Paul" nationwide coalition on the very night he is holding a major 'Salute to Veterans' rally in Des Moines.
This is the largest-yet rollout for this key coalition. The additional members hail from Polk, Bremer, Clayton, Warren, Clarke, Story, Franklin, Scott, Marshall, Benton, and Tama counties, all Iowa.
Veterans are signing on in droves to the coalition, further demonstrating the dynamism of the Iowa campaign organization's outreach to Hawkeye State heroes. Success in this area is attributed to Ron Paul's clear and consistent stance on behalf of veterans while in Congress, as featured in his own Des Moines Register op-ed published today and found
here. An ad released earlier in the campaign highlighting Dr. Paul's service to veterans in his home district can be
viewed here.
Ron Paul, himself a former Air Force flight surgeon, is holding a
rally tonight in Des Moines to salute those who have served and to offer a warm welcome to those recently returning from the Iraq conflict.
The following sample of veterans representing 11 counties have publicly proclaimed their support ahead of tonight's rally. As available, information about each veteran is provided in the following sequence: Name and residence, rank, branch, conflict/assignment, years of service.
Polk County Joe Creveling of Des Moines, US Marines, Korea '50-51, 4 years.
Bill Mech of Windsor Heights, Lieutenant (Junior Grade), US Navy, 4 years.
Todd Walton of Des Moines, Petty Officer Second Class, US Navy, 6 years.
Bremer County Elijah Wright of Jamesville, US Army National Guard, Afghanistan, 5 years.
Richard Wright of Jamesville, US Navy, 2-3 years.
Clayton County Joe Kierpaul of Guttenberg, Sr. Airman, US Air Force, Turkey, 4 years.
Dave Fassbinder of Monona, US Navy, Vietnam, 4 years.
Warren County Robert Winslow of New Virginia, Specialist-4, US Army, 3.5 years.
Clarke County Dale Mastarone of Osceola, US Army, West Germany, 6 years combined active/reserve.
Story County Tomas Mullins of Ames, Petty Officer Second Class, US Navy, two deployments aboard USS San Juan in the Persian Gulf 2005 & 2007, 6 years.
Franklin County Eric Grote of Hampton, US Army/US Air Force/Iowa National Guard, Turkey/Germany, 20 years.
Scott County Gene Costello of Bettendorf, Gunnery Sergeant, US Marines, Iraq/Japan/Qatar/Kuwait/
Norway, 13 years.
Shadrack Roberts of Bettendorf, US Army, Germany/Bosnia-Herzegovina, 4 years.
Doug Erenberger of Davenport, US Army, Specialist-5, 3 years.
Ron Waline of Eldridge, Private First Class, US Marines, 4 years.
Randy Edwards of Bettendorf, Staff Sergeant, US Marines, four combat deployments in Iraq, 8 years.
Anthony Woolever of Davenport, US Army/IL Guard, deployed to Iraq, 8 years.
Marshall County Merrell Kilborn of Marshalltown, Sergeant, US Air Force, 4 years.
Benton County Laverne Wille of Belle Plaine, Petty Officer Third Class, US Navy, Vietnam, 3 years 9 months.
Tama County Charles Betz of Tama, Corporal/Petty Officer First Class, US Marines/Navy, Persian Gulf, 15 years 9 months.
As a first basic step, those interested in joining the "Veterans for Ron Paul" coalition should visit the official page
here. Those residing in the Hawkeye State should email Iowa Voter Outreach Director Meghann Walker at
meghannw@ronpaul2012.com.