Michael Wilson
Democratic National Convention
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

I'm Mike Wilson, and as a small-town Tennessee guy-and a registered Republican-I can't tell you what an honor it is to be here today to nominate Barack Obama as the next President of the United States.

The town I grew up in is one of those places with two stoplights, one church, a McDonald's and about 600 families who are proud to call it home. I first left when I joined the Air Force and served for eight years as a medic, much as my dad did in the Army and my grandfather before him during World War II.

During my time in the Air Force, I served with the 387th Air Expeditionary Group in northern Iraq, in Kirkuk, where we did our best to treat our comrades who'd been wounded by suicide bombs, IEDs and mortars. One night we got a call that a helicopter was bringing in a team of five guys who'd been hit by a suicide bomber. The guy I was working on, all he would ask me was, "Where are my other guys? Are they okay?" As a medic, you just look them in the eye and tell them, "Let's get you taken care of first and we'll talk about your buddies later." We were able to save two of them. Three others died.

I've seen war up close-not as a political slogan or some think-tank theory. I support Barack Obama because America needs a president who has the strength, wisdom and courage to talk to our enemies and consult with our allies. A president who has the judgment to use war as a last resort, not a first resort. A president who can adapt to new situations as things change, instead of being stuck in the past. And a president who will respect our veterans when they get back home, instead of letting them languish without the medical care and services they deserve.

You know, there's an old saying: "If you always do what you did, you'll always get what you got." America needs new leadership in the White House, and that leader is Barack Obama.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's my distinct honor, as an Iraq war veteran, as a lifelong Republican, and as a proud citizen of this great democracy, to nominate the next President of the United States of America, Barack Obama!