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Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign Committee

"He Served" +
:60 ad released Sept. 22, 2011, national, IA, NH, NV and SC.

[Music]

Joe R. Pena, retired U.S. Army (voiceover):  We arrived in Vietnam in September, September the 14th.

Rene Reyes, retired U.S. Army (voiceover):  We were fighting what was called the Viet Cong.

Pena:  They broke through our lines and we had to go hand to hand with them.

Reyes:  I was actually one of the nine out of 56 that came after that one whole year, and that's hard to forget.

Pena:  We had 75 killed, we had 115 wounded.

Reyes:  Vietnam was hell.

Pena:  We had never been thanked for our service.  Never.

Congressman Ron Paul got my medals for me and presented them to me.  That was an awesome feeling.

Reyes:  People break down and cry, because they get the medal that they finally deserved.

Pena:  It takes a veteran to understand a veteran, and he is a veteran himself.

Reyes:  Ron Paul is a veteran's best friend.

Pena:  He said thank you for your service and shook our hand and gave us a hug.  That will always be there.

Paul (voiceover):  I'm Ron Paul and I approved this message.

Notes: According to the Sept. 22 press release:

The 60-second spot entitled ‘A Veteran’s Best Friend’ highlights Paul’s military service and unrivaled commitment to veterans.

“Dr. Paul has a long record in Congress as a strong advocate for veterans and issues important to them, particularly in making sure that they receive recognition for the sacrifices they’ve made in service to our country,” said Ron Paul 2012 National Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton.

The ad is the first in what will be a $1 million television push over the next few weeks. It is scheduled to air nationally on the FOX News Channel during debate coverage and run heavily in New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada, and South Carolina on broadcast and cable. At this stage in the primary election cycle few other campaigns have the ability to make an ad push of this scale, putting the Paul campaign in elite company.

Regarding the campaign’s ad push Benton went on to say:

“Our campaign is seeing growing momentum now and is doing this ad blitz to cement ourselves in the top tier. We’ve seen Dr. Paul’s poll numbers steadily increase, with  strong showings in recent New Hampshire and Iowapolls, as well as strong head-to-head showings versus President Obama.”

As a presidential candidate, Congressman Paul has garnered more donations from active-duty military than all of the other Republican presidential candidates combined, and more than President Obama as well. Paul’s consistent adherence to Constitutional principles regarding American foreign policy, and his calls to bring the troops home in order to defend the country as opposed to spending trillions policing and nation-building in foreign lands has gained him wide support among veterans and active military alike.