September 22, 2004
Military moms hit the road on Kerry’s behalf
By Karen Jowers
Times staff writer
The campaign of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has some new recruits: eight military mothers and wives who are traveling to seven election battleground states to share their stories.
The 34-city road trip, dubbed “Moms with a Mission: Home Front Tour,” kicked off Sept. 21 in West Virginia and Missouri. They will travel in caravans to meet with congressional members, local politicians, veterans and other military families, sharing their stories of how President Bush’s decisions have affected their lives, according to the Democratic National Committee.
The group includes women ranging from two 27-year-old newlyweds to a 71-year mother.
“Military Moms want John Kerry, a commander-in-chief who will be straight with the American people and will never send our troops to war without a plan to win the peace,” according to campaign literature.
“The press releases from the White House don’t tell what I know,”(WTF, you need the White House to tell you what you know?)
Nota Martin, of Wallingford, Pa., said in a prepared statement. “That is that over a year after George Bush declared mission accomplished and my youngest son returned from Iraq ... his brother is there today in an increasingly dangerous military environment.”
Martin’s youngest son, Nathan, joined the Marine Corps Reserve shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, was called up in February 2003 and returned that summer. Her oldest son, Zach, is a Marine officer currently in Iraq.
In addition to West Virginia and Missouri, the tour will stop in cities in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.