NH Veterans for Obama Steering Committee Roundtable in Manchester, NH

by: Brian P. Clark

Tue Aug 26, 2008 at 02:11:04 AM EDT

Thursday night, at the American Legion Sweeney Post in Manchester, New Hampshire a group of Veterans met at a roundtable to discuss Senator Barack Obama's stance on Veteran affairs and benefits. Medal of Honor recipient and Vietnam veteran, Captain Paul "Bud" Bucha, joined them to kickoff the New Hampshire Veterans for Obama Steering Committee.

Bill from the Manchester Sweeney Post started off:

We need a change in this country. We need a change now. We need to bring somebody into the White House who will speak for us veterans, who will get us a VA facility like we need here in Manchester; the only state in the United States that doesn't have a full service VA hospital. We need people here to help us. We need Obama in office. We need Carol Shea-Porter in office. We need Governor Shaheen in office. We need everyone to help us veterans. A lot of guys who have got a lot of issues, they can't get them taken care of here. They have to travel to Massachusetts. They have to travel to Vermont, whether it's for cancer treatment or mental health facilities.

Jim Smith, retired Air Force General, served 28 years mainly as a fighter pilot, introduced Captain Bucha:

I supported Senator Obama early because I saw in him someone who understood that the last seven years of this nation's experience did not match what our nation stood for. And I think in Senator Obama we've got a candidate, that not only is right for this time, he probably represents the best candidate for change we've seen in several generations.

Captain Bucha shared many great stories with this group of veterans, but when he spoke about leadership he listed his five elements of leadership: integrity, confidence, competence, compassion, and humility. In twenty years he hasn't found more than those five, but he found all five in Senator Obama:

I looked at those five things and I said, that's Barack! He didn't wait like they said... He told us the truth of who he was and everything about him. He didn't hide it... He wrote it in a book and it's there. So he's been honest and he's been compassionate... But no where in those five things is timing great. No where does it say, 'oh in 20 years experience'... If there were, David wouldn't have thrown that rock at Goliath. It would have been an old guy. Alexander would never have conquered Persia. It would have been an old guy. Abraham Lincoln would have never been allowed to be President. It would have been an old guy. Ulysses S. Grant wouldn't have accepted the surrender. It would have been an old guy. Martin Luther wouldn't have walked up those steps. It would have been an old minister. Dave Patreaus would not be leading in Iraq and I would have never been given command of my company. I didn't have five minutes of experience before I became a company commander. I'd been at the business school in Stanford. And as a result, time and grade wasn't important. History is replete with people who are young, who rise to the occation, who have these other elements of leadership. And that's what I saw in Barack.

Captain Bucha continued, making it known and clear that Senator Obama's voting record has been and will remain strong for veterans. He believes in what Senator Obama told him, "I believe it starts with the oath and ends with the cemetery." Captain Bucha followed with verility:

You take your oath. You die. That's the obligation of the country to the veteran. And the only difference is some point along the way you take your uniform off, whether it's 30 years or whether it's two years. But the obligation remains. And I thought, that was a unique concept to finally have someone have the guts to say.

It was inspiring. But the above picture has one empty chair. YOU need to fill that chair! The New Hampshire Veterans for Obama Steering Committee needs you. All veterans need you! Join New Hampshire Veterans for Obama and reach out to your fellow veterans: at home, in email, at the VFW, and local gatherings. Sign-up to get more involved and keep up to date with the important events all across the Granite State and the issues important to all veterans.