www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040913/news_1m13duncan.html

Felt like posting it because it is more proof that Michael Moore is a liar.

I'll just let this one die, there really was no point in posting it in the first place.

Please let your Uncle and Cousin know we are proud of them!

Awesome! You should be proud of both of them!



Serving on two fronts

Hunter one of few in Capitol with a child in U.S. military

By Karen Kucher
STAFF WRITER

September 13, 2004



NANCEE E. LEWIS / Union-Tribune
U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter of El Cajon is one of a handful in Congress who has children in the military. Marine 1st Lt. Duncan Duane Hunter is serving in Iraq.


On a visit to Iraq in June, Rep. Duncan Hunter gave a short speech to Marines in a Fallujah mess hall and told them how important they were in the war on terrorism.

One Marine in the audience found the congressman's talk so inspiring that he wrote about it in an e-mail to his mother. He said it lifted everyone's spirits and "erased all doubts I had about being here."

"I got chills, and thought about how proud I am to be fighting for America in my capacity," he wrote.

The Marine who sent that note was 1st Lt. Duncan Duane Hunter, Hunter's oldest son and one of a handful of troops in Iraq whose father or mother is a member of Congress.

The issue of how many lawmakers have children in Iraq was raised this summer in the controversial documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11," which is scheduled for release to the home-video market next month.

In one scene, producer Michael Moore said only one of the 535 members of Congress had an enlisted son in Iraq. According to his Web site, Moore was referring to Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota, whose son deployed to Iraq in 2003.

No formal list is kept of how many members of Congress have children in Iraq, but it is clear Johnson, a Democrat, is not alone in having a child in uniform.

Called to duty
In his film "Fahrenheit 9/11," Michael Moore says that out of 535 members of Congress, only one had an enlisted son in Iraq. A publicist for Moore did not return phone calls, but Moore's Web site said he was referring to Sen. Tim Johnson, (D-S.D.), whose son deployed to Iraq in 2003. Staff Sgt. Brooks Johnson has returned from Iraq and now works as an Army recruiter.

In addition to Johnson and Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-El Cajon, at least six other legislators have children in the military, including:

Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., has a son who recently graduated from the Marine Corps' Basic School at Quantico, Va. Sam Bond, 23, is training to be an infantry officer, Bond aide Shana Stribling said.

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., has a son who is a first lieutenant in the Delaware Army National Guard. Joseph R. Biden III is a judge advocate.

Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., has a son in the Marine Corps who is a combat engineer. Perr Akin recently completed training in Camp Lejune, N.C., and expects to be deployed later this year, possibly to Iraq or Afghanistan, the congressman's spokesman Steve Taylor said. Rep. Akin has a son who is a sophomore at the Naval Academy.

Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., has at least one son in the military, Hunter said. A spokeswoman for Skelton said the congressman does not answer questions about his children because he wants to protect their privacy.

Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., has three sons in the military. Alan is a captain in the Army National Guard stationed in Iraq, Addison is a Navy ensign and Julian is in the Army National Guard, press secretary Wesley Denton said.

Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., has a son, John, who is enlisted in the Navy.



Hunter said two other members of the House Armed Services Committee that he chairs have sons in the military. The San Diego Union-Tribune was able to confirm that at least four more members of Congress also have children in the military. In addition to Duncan Duane Hunter, at least one of them is in Iraq.

Duncan Duane Hunter enlisted in the Marines after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. At the time he was working at a high-tech company and planning to enroll in graduate school. He was also married and the father of an infant son.

"I'd always felt a bit guilty about not joining the military and September 11 gave me a sense of duty that I'd never felt," he said. "That day gave me the reason and the willpower to quit my job and join."

He didn't discuss his decision with his father. Instead, the congressman learned of his son's new career when he saw him running up a canyon in Alpine, trying to get in shape.

Hunter said he wasn't surprised by his son's enlistment, because military service is a tradition in the family.

The congressman is a Vietnam War veteran who served in the Army. One of his brothers was in the Air Force. His father was a Marine officer in World War II.

"My urging for the country is that people from all walks of life should serve the country," said Hunter, R-El Cajon. "That is an important thing." For the congressman, having a son serving in Iraq "personalizes" his job and gives him insight into what military families are experiencing.

For Duncan Duane Hunter, 27, having a father who holds such a high-profile political post has brought its own challenges.

In college he remembers getting "a little razzing" about his dad from some of his San Diego State University professors. And in Officer Candidate School he was ordered to do extra push-ups by a drill instructor who said he hated politicians.

Duncan Duane Hunter, a guns platoon commander in an artillery battalion, said he tells his father how congressional decisions are playing out in the field.

"When Dad orders a bunch of body armor or scopes for the Marines, I can actually tell him if we got it and if it works," the son wrote in an e-mail to the Union-Tribune from Iraq.

"I tell him what I think the Marines really need, not what things will get the Pentagon the biggest contracts this quarter."

Duncan Duane Hunter said the "higher-ups" in his unit "don't necessarily enjoy the fact that a lieutenant is able to swing that much weight" but he does what he thinks is right for the military.

Defense has been one of Congressman Hunter's priorities since he was elected to Congress in 1980. For 24 years, he has served on the committee that helps mold defense policies and controls Pentagon budgets. He became its chairman in 2003.

In some ways, Hunter and his wife are typical Marine parents. When their son returned from Iraq the first time, they dropped everything – including Hunter's appearance in a Fourth of July parade in Rancho Bernardo – to be at Camp Pendleton when their son arrived.

"The military is a unifying force in our country that brings people together and puts them all on common ground," Hunter said. "We are out there on the tarmac, waiting for our son to come in, like all the other families."

In other ways, however, Hunter is far from a typical Marine dad.

As chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, he gets daily reports on casualties and military operations. And few fathers get the chance to visit a war zone where their son or daughter is stationed.

Hunter downplays his insider role. He said he has never contacted his son's superior officers to inquire about his son. And like most military parents he said he gets breaking news about front-line battles from the media – even though he initially opposed allowing reporters to "embed" with combat troops.

"We know where the 1st Division is. Everyone in San Diego does," Hunter said. "Some of the best description of what happens in the area of operations comes from the newspapers."

While Hunter visited briefly with his son in June, he didn't see his son at all when he went to Iraq in May 2003. The logistics were too difficult, he said.

"I said let him do his job and I'll do mine," Hunter said. "You don't want to put people to trouble when they are out fighting a war so you could hook up with a kid."

While having a dad who is a congressman may not have boosted Duncan Duane Hunter's military career, it did come in handy for his love life.

In 1992, Margaret Jankowski, a senior at Crawford High School, volunteered to work in Hunter's local congressional office for a government class assignment. On Election Night, she was there with friends when she was introduced to Duncan Duane Hunter, then a junior at Granite Hills High.

"It was one of those love-at-first-sight things," Margaret Hunter recalled. "I knew that day I wanted to marry him. I broke it to him two weeks later."

They've been married since 1998 and have two children: Duncan, 3, and Elizabeth, 1. The family lives in base housing at Camp Pendleton.

As Duncan Duane Hunter's second deployment winds down, his father admits he worries about his son. His wife, Lynne, said she often prays for her oldest child and for the other Marines serving in Iraq.

"One thing I've learned is you always are concerned about your family," Hunter said. "You never stop being a dad

Thanks for the link. I can now use it to beat a friend of mine over the head. He like F9/11 even though I keep telling him it was a pack of lies.

Quoted: I'll just let this one die, there really was no point in posting it in the first place.

Sure there was a reason to post it!  You should be very proud of your cousin and uncle.

Tell him thank you for me.

Thanks for posting this info.  

Thanks guys, I am very proud to have them as family.