FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 22, 2008
Contact: Samantha Succop/Brian Marriott
Vets
for Freedom at Democratic National Convention
Back
from their Iraq trip, VFF credentialed in Denver
WASHINGTON, DC – Vets for
Freedom (VFF) announced earlier this month that eight Iraq
war veterans who are members of the organization would return to Iraq
to assess conditions on the ground and analyze policy options for
future U.S. military involvement. Having returned last week, the VFF
Chairman Pete Hegseth and Vice Chairman David Bellavia will be at
the Democratic National Convention informing delegates, key lawmakers
and the American people about what they saw and the importance of
commitment to completion of the mission in Iraq.
Both Hegseth and Bellavia will have media
credentials for the Convention, and will be available for media
requests to provide their informed, ‘boots on the ground” understanding
of the mission in Iraq and the best future course for the United
States.
Both bios are below:
Pete Hegseth: Captain Pete Hegseth was
commissioned into the U.S. Army upon graduation from Princeton
University in 2003. A year later, Capt. Hegseth served in Guantanamo
Bay for a year on a security mission with his National Guard unit and,
upon his return from Cuba, volunteered to join the 3rd Brigade of the
101st Airborne Division for their deployment to Iraq from 2005-2006.
Capt. Hegseth served as an infantry Platoon Leader in Baghdad during
the nationwide elections in October and December 2005, and as a
Civil-Military Operations officer in Samarra for seven months, a time
period which included the bombing of the Golden Mosque. Capt. Hegseth
earned the Combat Infantryman's Badge and Bronze Star Medal for his
time in Iraq and continues to serve as an infantry officer in the
Fighting 69th Infantry Battalion, New York Army National Guard. Capt.
Hegseth serves as the Chairman of Vets for Freedom, an
organization dedicated to mobilizing veterans to explain American
strategy in Iraq. He also plans to start a masters program at the
Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs at Princeton
University in the fall of 2008.
David Bellavia: is author of the much
acclaimed war memoir House to House: An Epic Memoir of War,
about door-to-door close combat in Iraq, Bellavia is a former army
staff sergeant who served in the First Infantry Division (Task Force
2-2) for six years. He is the recipient of the both Silver and Bronze
Stars for valor, and the Conspicuous Service Cross, New York State's
highest award for combat valor. He has also been nominated for both the
Distinguished Service Cross and the Medal of Honor for his actions in a
fierce urban hand-to-hand fight in the battle of Fallujah, in November
2004. Originally from Buffalo, NY, Bellavia currently
resides in western New York with his wife and two sons. There he
has founded a local Veteran's Coordination Center that focuses on the
early treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and other
veteran's-related issues and outreach programs. Bellavia is also
a co-founder of the non-partisan, non-profit
Vets for Freedom organization.
Both Vets for Freedom Chairman Pete Hegseth and
Vice Chairman David Bellavia will be credentialed for the Democratic
Convention and available for interviews within the Pepsi Center. For
interviews, please contact those listed above. For more on Vets
for Freedom visit www.vetsforfreedom.org