Mike Pence: “there is a lot of debate going on here in Washington, D.C. over our reasons for going to war in Iraq. Yesterday, I had…”

“there is a lot of debate going on here in Washington, D.C. over our reasons for going to war in Iraq. Yesterday, I had the privilege of meeting with some men I believe we should hear more from. They were Marines injured in Operation Iraqi Freedom currently being treated at Bethesda Naval Hospital, Marines like Mark Graunke, Jr., a staff sergeant who lost his left hand, three of his fingers and his left eye and took shrapnel in removing landmines in theater on July 8 earlier this month. What Mark told me, Congressman, I am not a hero, I was just doing my job for the good old United States of America, and it was a privilege. Then I talked to another sergeant whose name I will omit, but a man who the Navy corpsman told me may not make it. He was flanked by his mom and his dad and the mother of his two children and he looked me in the eye, with tubes coming out, and he simply said, Congressman, the only thing I worry about is that we will pull out early and we will not finish the job and it will mean all of the sacrifices we made over there were for nothing. Then there was Michael Jones who took an RPG shell in the leg, looked me in the eye and told me he was glad the man fired at him instead of the vehicle where five of his fellow Marines were doing a search. I said, Lance Corporal Jones, are you telling me you are glad you were shot with a rocket in the leg? He said, yes, sir, I am sure it saved lives.”