Veterans take their war views to the trail

Veterans take their war views to the trail
N.H. campaigning could have impact


By Irene Sege, Globe Staff | October 17, 2007

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - Joshua Denton steps onto Aldrich Road for his first day canvassing for Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards. He carries campaign literature in his Army-issued green canvas map case and wears a bracelet etched with the name John L. Hartman, a comrade killed in Baghdad on Nov. 30, 2006. Denton returned from Iraq in August, moved to Portsmouth in September, and a few days later volunteered at Edwards's local headquarters.

"I have a tough time trying to figure out why I'm alive and so many people aren't," says Denton, 25, an Army captain on leave before his scheduled discharge next month. "I've known plenty of good people who've been killed over there, and it's not worth it."

Denton, who helps the Edwards campaign when he's not working at Banana Republic, is among a small cadre of Iraq veterans aiding candidates in New Hampshire's presidential primary. Some came home convinced the war can and should be won, and some lament what Denton calls a "lost cause." Informed and impassioned by their wartime experiences, they aid candidates whose views on Iraq mirror their own.

Though few in number, they are the face of what could be an important force in this small New England state. Together with their brothers and sisters in arms who informally share their opinions around kitchen tables and water coolers, they are the eyes and ears of a controversial war. Campaigns covet those with the time and inclination to work for a candidate. Indeed, the day may come when this divisive war produces veterans-turned-politicians of its own. "You really don't have to look very far to find someone affected by the war in a state like New Hampshire. These are communities where people know one another, and if you're a military mom or a military spouse, or an employer of a soldier your life is completely changed by that reservist's service and it has a ripple effect throughout the community," says Jennifer Donahue, senior adviser at Saint Anselm College's New Hampshire Institute of Politics. "When a veteran speaks who's been in this war, everybody listens. I've seen people change their minds when they've listened to a veteran. It's a very persuasive voice to have in your corner."

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