Vet's Mom Pleased Obama Mentioned Bracelet
Tracy Jopek Rips 'Garbage On The Internet'
POSTED: 10:06 am CDT September 29, 2008
UPDATED: 10:10 am CDT September 29, 2008
The mother of a Wisconsin soldier killed in Iraq said she was proud when presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama mentioned during Friday's debate that he wears the bracelet she gave him in honor of her son. And she had harsh words for critics who said Obama exploited her son for political gain.
"I don't understand how people can take that and turn it into some garbage on the Internet," Tracy Jopek said.
Sgt. Ryan Jopek was killed by a roadside bomb in 2006. His mother gave Obama the bracelet at a Green Bay rally in February, and Obama continues to wear it.
She later requested that the candidate not wear the bracelet because she didn't want other parents of fallen soldiers to construe the gift as a protest against the war.
But she said it was appropriate for Obama to mention the bracelet Friday because he was responding to a remark by Sen. John McCain, who also wears a bracelet in remembrance of a fallen soldier.
"I had a town hall meeting in Wolfeboro, N.H., and a woman stood up and she said, 'Sen. McCain, I want you to do me the honor of wearing a bracelet with my son's name on it.'" McCain said in the debate. "And I said, 'I will -- I will wear his bracelet with honor.'"
"And this was August, a year ago," McCain said. "And then she said, 'But, Sen. McCain, I want you to do everything -- promise me one thing, that you'll do everything in your power to make sure that my son's death was not in vain.'"
When it was his turn to speak, Obama said, "I've got a bracelet, too, from sergeant ... the mother of Sgt. Ryan David Jopek."
"No U.S. soldier ever dies in vain because they're carrying out the missions of their commander in chief," Obama said. "And we honor all the service that they've provided. Our troops have performed brilliantly. The question for the next president is, are we making good judgments about how to keep America safe, precisely because sending our military into battle is such an enormous step."
Jopek said Obama's comment rightfully suggested there's more than one viewpoint on the war.
"His response in the debate was exactly that, a response, after John McCain put it out there first," she said. "I think it was an appropriate response. He was just saying there's another side to the story, there's two different viewpoints.”
She said she’s honored that both presidential candidates wear the bracelets “to respect the troops," she said. "My request to both of them is that they honor the troops by lifting the conversation to the issues, and that they continue to live up to the standards our military deserves."
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