Military voters -- active-duty servicemembers, veterans and their family members -- may play a large role in how Virginia doles out its electoral votes in November. President Obama narrowly leads there (by 0.3 percent in an average of polls) but Mitt Romney is heavily favored by servicemembers in polls. As Election Day nears, Yahoo News asked Virginians with military ties to share their thoughts on the election. Here's one perspective.
FIRST PERSON | My name is Cheryl Preston. I am a 54-year-old wife, mother and grandmother. I live in Roanoke, Va. My son-in-law, Dustin Bowles, is one of 822,000 veterans in Virginia.
Dustin completed basic training in 2006 at Fort Campbell, Ky., and was assigned to serve in Schweinfurt, Germany. When it was confirmed that Dustin's unit was going to Iraq, I cried. I thought he was not going to return home.
Three days later, my oldest son, Michael Jr., called. He said he was feeling that if Dustin went to Iraq, he would die there. I told him that I felt the same way. We began to keep Dustin and his comrades in constant prayer.
Dustin's unit went to Iraq where he was a tank driver. One, day Dustin, who always drove the lead tank, was assigned to the second tank. On that day the lead tank ran over a field mine and blew up. Two soldiers died.
On another occasion a grenade exploded, killing those walking behind Dustin. We are thankful our prayers availed for my son-in-law, but are sad for the families of soldiers who died. We were also eager for Dustin's tour to be over.
When the scheduled time arrived, however, Dustin found out that his unit would have to stay a few months longer. We were disappointed. The continued assurances from President Obama, that the troops would soon be home, gave us comfort.
The president kept his word. Dustin arrived safely back in Germany, where his wife, my daughter Kiesha and first-born son were waiting. This was bittersweet because of the soldiers who were not coming home.
Dustin and Kiesha now live, too, in Roanoke. They have added a second son and a daughter to the family. Dustin works locally for the Veterans Administration. He is also an officer in the local chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Neither President Obama nor Mitt Romney has served in the military. Our president, however, does now have four years of in-office training. He kept his word to get the troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq. And his directives are why Osama Bin Laden was dealt with.
I believe these are reasons polls indicate that Virginia, a traditionally Republican state, will support Obama in the November election. I feel strongly those in active military duty, veterans and their family members will be a large factor in President Obama winning here.
My son and daughter-in-law will vote for Obama. I am still undecided, but leaning more toward voting for our president to serve another term.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/first-person-virgina-military-presidential-election-family-201600132.html
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