"The Most Important Veteran in My Life'

Statement

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released the following video today in observance of Veterans Day, Saturday, November 11th:

The following is a transcript of the video:
"The most important veteran in my life was my father, he was, as Tom Brokaw said, one of the Greatest Generation, who felt compelled to serve.

"He had two different exemptions and would not have had to serve in World War II, but he chose to do so.

"If that wasn't a difficult enough decision, he had just left when I came down with polio as a kid. A little two year old, which of course was a scary thing. And so he went off to war, left my mother behind, and she worked on my recovery for the next two years.

"He got there in March of 1945, this was after the Battle of the Bulge, and he was in the thick of it from March until May the 8th 1945 -- V.E. Day. I subsequently found out about two thirds of his company got wiped out one night. So it was a vicious process.

"I have a letter that he wrote to my mother, and at the top of it he wrote "V.E. Day May 8th 1945'. The Greatest Generation fought a war that had to be fought, and had they not won it, we wouldn't have the kind of country we have today.

"All of our servicemen now, are volunteers, they volunteered to put their lives in danger and need to be well taken care of. So, Happy Veterans Day, particularly to all those in Kentucky."

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