The other day, I had the pleasure of meeting our true heroes. Vets For Freedom are travelling around the nation in the National Heroes Tour. I was privileged to meet them. CMO2 Tim Parks, USMC, has served in both Afghanistan and Iraq and has received two purple hearts and the Silver Star for his valiant acts. SSG David Bellavia, US Army, has been awarded the purple heart and both the Bronze Star and Silver Star for his heroism in the battle of Fallujah, he has also been nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor for those acts. Petty Officer Marcus Luttrell, Navy SEAL, was awarded the Navy Cross for his valor in Afghanistan. These are the stories you don’t see on the news, but we all need to.
Captain Pete Hegseth, US Army, is the Executive Producer of Vets For Freedom. He served in Iraq in ’04-’05 and was in Baghdad. One section of town, Doura, was impenetrable. Doura was a neighborhood of insurgents. If we tried to go in there, it would be nothing but a stand-off. Three weeks ago, Capt. Hegseth returned to Baghdad, this time as a reporter. He went into Doura and walked around without a helmet for three days. Not once did he hear gunfire or an explosion. Only a year ago, Doura was the al-Qaeda headquarters of Iraq, today it is safe and filled with people.
