From: Joseph H. March - www.Legion.Org

INDIANAPOLIS (May 14, 2008) -- The American Legion and Military.com are teaming up to enable military and veteran voters to pose questions directly to U.S. presidential candidates this election year.

“Debate 2008” is an unprecedented opportunity for veterans, military retirees, off-duty service personnel and others to upload video questions onto the Web. The veteran and military communities are comprised of approximately 44 million Americans almost a quarter of the overall voting population and more than a third of the total voting participation in 2004, according to the Department of Defense 2005 Selected Manpower Statistics and U.S. Census. The best among the submissions will be answered on video by those who seek to become the next Commander-in-Chief.

Military.com, the nation’s largest online military membership destination with more than 10 million members, is host of the site - www.Military.com/presidential-debate.

- where easy-to-follow instructions are provided for those who wish to upload questions. The site will also be accessible through www.legion.org, Web site of The American Legion.

“This video forum is the first of its kind,” American Legion National Commander Marty Conatser said. “Candidates and voters have no better opportunity to learn the highest election priorities of the military and veteran communities heading into November.”

Questions must be nonpartisan in nature and directed to all candidates. They should not contain video that includes imagery of campaign materials. Members of the Armed Forces who wish to submit questions must do so while off duty in order to comply with the Hatch Act. Detailed guidelines appear online. Editors for Military.com and The American Legion Magazine will screen and select the videos.

The leading candidates from both major parties will be given equal opportunity to respond to selected video questions. The American Legion Magazine, which reaches nearly 4 million readers a month, plans to publish interviews in a forthcoming issue. Military.com will run the video questions and the candidates’ answers on www.Military.com/presidential-debate. The deadline to upload videos for potential use in the interviews is June 15.

Military.com and The American Legion have had a formal working relationship for more than three years. The American Legion, established in 1919, is the world’s largest veterans service organization, with more than 14,000 community posts around the world.

The staff of San Joaquin Valley Veterans would like to thank all of our troops currently in battle and all who have served for their dedication and sacrifices.

We hope you've enjoyed your visit here at sjvv.org and we sincerely wish you well. If you have any comments or stories that you would like to share, inspired by our heroes or otherwise veteran related please contact us.
Thank You!