Not long ago, the Romney campaign announced it had recruited more than 300 retired military generals for a special advisory board. Now the campaign boasts the endorsement of 150 of the nation's most revered military heroes.
150 former prisoners of war have now endorsed the Republican challenger, according to a campaign announcement made this week.
The list includes well-known figures, such as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas) and former Federal Trade Commissioner Orson Swindle, all of whom were held captive in North Vietnam during the Vietnam war. Other names are more obscure.
???I am deeply honored to have the support of these American heroes who suffered so much for our nation and her people,??? Romney said in a statement. ???Our military men and women are America???s best. They put everything???including their lives and their liberty???on the line for our freedoms. When I am president, I will honor their dedication and those sacrifices by ensuring that we maintain the strength of our military, provide the care our veterans need, and build an economy that gives every American the chance to live their dreams.???
Swindle, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel, told the newspaper Hawaii reporter that he had endorsed Romney because he believed the Republican candidate brought experience in real-world issues, competence, and leadership.
In a statement released by the campaign, Swindle said he believed the faltering economy under President Barack Obama had been bad for American service members.
???Our nation???s most sacred commitment is to our men and women in uniform, but for the last four years, we???ve been letting them down," he said. "Too many veterans come home without opportunities for good jobs. Too many of our wounded are seeing the cost of their medical care on the rise...(Romney) not only appreciates the sacrifices the men and women of the armed forces make, he has the experience and the plan to turn this country around. He???ll make sure that none of our bravest come back from war only to face new and sometimes even more difficult battles at home."
The Obama administration has come under some fire from veterans' groups for its failure to recover Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, America's last POW in Afghanistan. Bergdahl has been held by the terrorist Haqqani Network for nearly three and a half years.
The full list of POWs who have endorsed Romney is below.
- Senator John McCain
- Rep. Sam Johnson
- Captain Ray Alcorn, USN, (Ret.)
- Commander Everett Alvarez, USN, (Ret.)
- CWO Frank Anton, USA, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel Tim Ayers, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Elmo Baker, USAF, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel Ted Ballard, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Robert Barnett, USAF, (Ret.)
- Major Richard Bates, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain James Bell, USN, (Ret.)
- Major General John Borling, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Ron Byrne, USAF, (Ret.)
- Major Peter Camerota, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain David Carey, USN, (Ret.)
- Commander Al Carpenter, USN, (Ret.)
- Colonel/Chaplain Robert Certain, USAF, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel Harlan Chapman, USMC, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel Larry Chesley, USAF, (Ret.)
- Commander George Coker, USN, (Ret.)
- Colonel James Collins, USAF, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel Thomas Collins, USAF, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel James Condon, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Ken Cordier, USAF, (Ret.)
- Major Joe Crecca, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Tom Curtis, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain Samuel B. Cusimano, USAF, (Ret.)
- Major J. D. Cutter, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel George ???Bud??? Day, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain Rob Doremus, USN, (Ret.)
- Commander Dale Doss, USN, (Ret.)
- Colonel Dan Doughty, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Jerry D. Driscoll, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain Dave Drummond, USAF, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel John Dunn, USA, (Ret.)
- Brigadier General Jeff Ellis, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain Jack Ensch, USN, (Ret.)
- Commander Robert Fant, USN, (Ret.)
- Colonel John Fer, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Ken Fisher, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Fredrick Flom, USAF, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel Dave Ford, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain Bill Franke, USN, (Ret.)
- Rear Admiral Robert B. Fuller, USN, (Ret.)
- Brigadier General Norm Gaddis, USAF, (Ret.)
- Commander Ralph Gaither, USN, (Ret.)
- Commander Paul Galanti, USN, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel William A Gauntt, USAF, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel Terry Geloneck, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain Wayne Goodermote, USN, (Ret.)
- Captain Paul Granger, USN, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel Dave Grant, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Lawrence Guarino, USAF, (Ret.)
- Staff Sergeant Gary Guggenberger, USA, (Ret.)
- Captain Collins Haines, USN, (Ret.)
- Commander Porter Halyburton, USN, (Ret.)
- Captain Gregg Hanson, USAF, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel Tom Hanton, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Carlyle Harris, USAF, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel Jay Hess, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain James Hickerson, USN, (Ret.)
- Colonel James Hivner, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain David Hoffman, USN, (Ret.)
- Colonel Ed Hubbard, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Robert Hudson, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Gobel James, USAF, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel Robert Jeffrey, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Harry Johnson, USAF , (Ret.)
- Colonel Murphy Neal Jones, USAF, (Ret.)
- Sergeant Everett King, USA, (Ret.)
- Colonel Joe Kittinger, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain Rod Knutson, USN, (Ret.)
- Colonel James Kula, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Hal Kushner, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Jim Lamar, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Mike Lane, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Gordon Larson, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain Tom Latendresse, USN, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel Laurie Lengyel, USAF, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel Edward Leonard, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain Henry Lesesne, USN, (Ret.)
- Major Stephen Long, USAF, (Ret.)
- Vice Admiral Ed Martin, USN, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel Ron Mastin, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Norm McDaniel, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain Eugene McDaniel, USN, (Ret.)
- Major Fred McMurray, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Tom McNish, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain Read MecLeary, USNR, (Ret.)
- Captain James Mehl, USN, (Ret.)
- Captain Bill Metzger, USN, (Ret.)
- Vice Admiral Joe Mobley, USN, (Ret.)
- Captain Ernest Melvin Moore, USN, (Ret.)
- Major John S. Murphy, USAF, (Ret.)
- Lewis Meyer
- Major Spike Nasmyth, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Martin Neuens, USAF, (Ret.)
- Commander Aubrey Allen Nichols, USN, (Ret.)
- Colonel Tom Norris, USAF, (Ret.)
- Commander Dale Osborne, USN, (Ret.)
- Commander Gordon Paige, USN, (Ret.)
- Lieutenant Mike Penn, USN, (Ret.)
- Captain Joseph C. Plumb, USN, (Ret.)
- Colonel Ben Pollard, USAF, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel Thomas Pyle, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain Dale Raebel, USN, (Ret.)
- Colonel James E. Ray, USAF, (Ret.)
- Brigadier General Jon Reynolds, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Paul K. Robinson, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain William A Robinson, USAF, (Ret.)
- Commander David J. Rollins, USN, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel George Alan Rose, USAF, (Ret.)
- CWO Joseph Rose, III, USA, (Ret.)
- Major Wesley D. Schierman, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain Pete Schoeffel, USN, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel Bill Schwertfeger, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Bruce Seeber, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Brian Seek, USAF, (Ret.)
- Commander Bill Shankel, USN MC, (Ret.)
- Colonel Lew Shattuck, USAF, (Ret.)
- Rear Admiral Robert Shumaker, USN, (Ret.)
- Major Theodore S. Sienicki, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain Gary Sigler, USAF, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel Gene Smith, USAF, (Ret.)
- Major Mark A. Smith, USA, (Ret.)
- Commander J. B. Souder, USN, (Ret.)
- Captain Charles Southwick, USN, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel William Spencer, USAF, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel Tom Storey, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain Richard Stratton, USN, (Ret.)
- Colonel Leroy Stutz, USAF, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel Orson Swindle, USMC, (Ret.)
- Colonel Bernard Talley, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain Richard Tangeman, USN, (Ret.)
- Commander Gary Thornton, USN, (Ret.)
- Colonel Leo Thorsness, USAF, (Ret.)
- Commander Bill Tschudy, USN, (Ret.)
- Colonel Jack Van Loan, USAF, (Ret.)
- Major Samuel R. Vaughan, USAF, (Ret.)
- Colonel Dick Vogel, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain Raymond Vohden, USN, (Ret.)
- Colonel Wayne Waddell, USAF , (Ret.)
- Captain Jim Warner, USMC, (Ret.)
- Colonel Ronald Webb, USAF, (Ret.)
- Commander Dave Wheat, USN, (Ret.)
- Captain Irv Williams, USN, (Ret.)
- Captain Bill Wilson, USAF, (Ret.)
- Captain Brian Woods, USN, (Ret.)
- Lt. Colonel John Yuill, USAF, (Ret.)
- Commander Charlie Zuhoski, USN, (Ret.)
