Many of you have probably already seen this video (3,404,685 views as of this posting) and know the "surprise" ending. If you haven't seen it, take a look before clicking read more - there are spoilers therein.
I put this here not as an endorsement of the content, but because I checked the back story and I think reporting that is worthwhile - one thing we've learned in these parts is not to trust everyone who says they're an Iraq veteran.
Before proceeding, let's acknowledge there are plenty of wounded troops who support Barack Obama. (Tammy Duckworth might be the best known of these.)
The young man in the video is Joe Cook, and is indeed an Iraq veteran - one of three brothers from a Chicago suburb who served there. Cook was wounded in Baghdad during "surge" operations. The Chicago ABC affiliate did a story on Cook's homecoming in October, 2007.
He was badly wounded when the vehicle he was in was hit by a roadside bomb. Cook arrived at O'Hare airport Monday.
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Late Monday afternoon, Joe Cook came home after weeks of stateside rehab.
"They're going to have to teach me how to walk without a limp, teach me how to run again. It should be fun," Joe Cook said.
He was captain of his high school cross country team but now will walk now with a prosthesis. His welcome home at the airport is being followed by a welcome home in the village of Wauconda. The village has made it a habit to welcome every combat vet back home.
"We want to make sure that nobody has the experience that our brothers and sisters had coming back from previous wars. We want everyone to feel welcome," police officer Pat Yost said.
Joe Cook said he's relaxed and looking ahead to college.
All three of the Cook brothers enlisted in the Army within six months of each other, and all volunteered for service in Iraq. Their parents say each one of the sons was determined to pursue that choice. And while the parents are extremely excited to have Joe back at home, they still have two sons in Iraq.
Joe's dad is also
active in local (township/county) Republican politics. That in no way leads me to question the sincerety of his son's comments, but in fairness must be noted.
FWIW - this video was posted on youtube August 27, 2008. I first saw it via last Friday's Dawn Patrol - I don't recall the exact views then but it was a six-figure number. It's been viewed 3.4 million times as of now - I suspect that's not going to slow for a while. Is that a problem for the Obama campaign?
Update: Almost six million views as of 14 September.
It appears that the video has been spread by grass-roots means, with big traffic engines like Rush Limbaugh and the Mudville Gazette only linking to it yesterday.
Uhhh,
thanks, I guess. (I suspect I may have just doubled the number of "Rush Limbaugh" references on this site.)
Also: Who Made "Dear Mr. Obama"? Answer here.
All done!
