“Was JD Vance a Marine? A look at the military record of Trump’s VP pick” was the title of a Yahoo News article that caught my eye during the fourth day of the Republican National Convention. Upon further investigation it was an USA Today article originally published on July 16th and updated July 17th by Melissa Cruz. Cruz was identified as “an election reporting fellow who focuses on voter access issues…”

My first reaction was here is a media hit piece casting doubt on the validity of the military experience of Republican Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance. And, since the article never gave a resounding “Yes” reply to the question, it may have been. I printed it out and the almost two page article was a nice summary of Vance’s experience in the US Marines which, undoubtedly, was considered in President Trump’s selection process.

The brief article was both a story of his Marine experience and how it impacted his life. He was a combat correspondent, often called a military journalist, with assignments that included being deployed to Iraq and later as a media relations officer at a major Marine Corps installation.

The article also pointed out that Vance is “the first veteran on a major party ticket since John McCain in 2008.” I found that noteworthy because four of our last five Presidents were not Veterans and prior to that, nine consecutive Presidents had served in the military – from Truman through Bush 41.

Vance’s military experience may prove dividends to Wisconsin’s 3rd District as I am certain Congressman Derrick Van Orden, himself a military Veteran, will remind the Vice Presidential nominee (and hopefully future Vice President) of the military value and economic importance that Fort McCoy and Volk Field have for the good of the country!

On the related questions of Vance’s character and possible contributions, US Senator Ron Johnson has said “JD Vance brings intelligence and integrity”.

And, the answer to the question “Was JD Vance a Marine?” is a resounding YES!