Political Quotes

“Madam President, I am proud to support Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense. If Chuck can make it through the jungles of Vietnam, he can surely make it through the bureaucracy of the Pentagon. America needs Chuck as its Secretary of Defense to bring our troops home and to keep our military the strongest in the world. Sergeant Hagel is an American hero. When so many Americans were dodging the draft, he volunteered to serve in Vietnam. The draft board gave him the option to return to college, but Chuck refused. He said: I think the best thing for me is to go in the Army. It may not be the best thing for the Army, but I think that's the way to get all this straightened out. I was the oldest of four boys. My father [had] passed away, and I just was not coming together the way I should come together. There was a war going on in Vietnam. I felt a sense of some responsibility. So I said, ``No. Let's--let's go. And so I volunteered for the draft, went in the Army and celebrated my 21st birthday down at White Sands Missile Range.'' And Chuck didn't serve in a safe billet. When assigned to Germany, he protested and asked to deploy to Vietnam. So he volunteered for Vietnam and saw the horrors of war as an infantry sergeant. Chuck and his younger brother Tom are the only known American brothers to serve side by side in Vietnam. At different times, they risked their own lives to save each other's.…”