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Dear Hunter,

As you know, the final troops are coming home from Iraq this week. A few days ago, I returned to the US, ending my deployment with the Army in Iraq, after nearly a year. Today, I am returning to my role as Chairman of VoteVets.org, and ready for an incredibly active 2012!

First, I want to thank all of you, personally. The road to ending the war in Iraq has been long. When I first helped form VoteVets.org in 2006, it was for a simple reason – many troops and veterans felt the war was wrong, and that it had to be wrapped up so we could focus on al Qaeda and the real threats to America. Together through the years, we've spoken out, run ads, held petition drives, written letters to Congress and newspapers. In election years, we've supported veterans running for office who were committed to ending the war in Iraq, and defeated many politicians who wanted war without end. That all of our remaining troops are coming home this week, and we have indeed taken the fight to al Qaeda by killing Osama bin Laden and other top terrorist leaders is a testament to you. Never doubt that together we have had a huge impact.

I want to personally thank Ashwin Madia, a fellow Iraq veteran, who did a tremendous job as Interim Chairman, while I was gone. And to Les MacDonald, the Managing Director who has been with me since the beginning -- for helping lead both VoteVets.org and Vet Voice Foundation.

And I also want to thank you for all of your support while I was overseas. Your messages, Facebook posts, emails and tweets helped keep me going. Being away from my family and friends for so long, on my second tour in Iraq was not easy. Your support, though, gave me something to look forward to.

Now we move on to 2012. One of things I've seen upon my return is just how tough things are for veterans coming home. It's always been tough for veterans, but given the state of the economy and our politics, now is even tougher for veterans and military families. The good news is that now more than ever, veterans are ready to get out front and speak loudly in the election year. This could very well be the year of the veteran.

We have a lot planned. Here's just a sample of what we're going to be doing:
* We will be continuing our pilot project on the ground -- where we organized the first veterans and military families door to door canvas in Pennsylvania and Washington State in 2010. We are looking to expand that into some key battleground states, supporting our candidates and those who support our troops and families.
* We will be running our award-winning television and radio ads in Senate races and targeted congressional districts where we know from a recent poll our message and our veterans cut through the media clutter.
* We will be endorsing more candidates and building support of their runs, including Tammy Duckworth in Illinois, Brendon Mullen in Indiana, Brig. Gen. John Douglass in Virginia and others.
* We know that a disproportionate number of troops come from rural America. To that end, we are preparing to launch a "rural veteran outreach effort" to organize these veterans, to make sure their voices are heard in some of the less populated places.


We will be holding our first Western Leadership conference -- training veterans to speak publicly for the first time on issues that concern them and doing extensive media training so they can become leaders in their communities.

The team at VoteVets.org is ready to go. I hope you are too. As always, I would love to hear from you about ideas you may have. You have been so critical to our success, and I value every bit of insight you can provide us.

Happy Holidays to all of you and your loved ones.

Sincerely,

Jon Soltz
Iraq War Veteran
Chairman, VoteVets.org


VoteVets.org

[ http://www.facebook.com/pages/VoteVetsorg/8501031021 ] [ http://www.twitter.com/votevets ] [ http://www.youtube.com/votevets ]

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