Honoring America’s heroes during the holiday season
Rep. Brian Mast, U.S. congressional candidates Jason Church and Rob Jones discuss wounded veterans offering support to service members.
As families across the country gather to celebrate Christmas, Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., a retired Army Ranger and combat veteran, shed light on the many families who are spending the holiday season without their loved ones.
"We love you, we're proud of you, we're thankful for you," Mast said Wednesday to those deployed overseas.
"George Washington crossed the frozen Delaware river to kill our enemies and defend freedom and fight for independence... that's what our service members are doing today," he added. "But, the sacrifice for it is that you miss probably the greatest display of Christmas spirit that exists -- and that's in the smile and laughter of your children."
Asked whether he had a heightened sense of gratitude to be able to spend time with his family around the holidays, Mast, a Purple Heart recipient, paid tribute to the families of those who lost their lives in combat.
"It's one more year that I get to see the smiles and laughter, and joy and the glee in the faces of my family," he said on "Special Report." "And, I know that we all have bracelets that we wear when we think about friends that we've lost... and their families don't get one more hug, one more kiss, one more letter, or one more gift... so there's an amazing level of gratitude that I'm still here."
Marine veteran Rob Jones and combat veteran Jason Church, both Republican congressional candidates, joined Mast to discuss the latest in their bids.
"Ever since I've been wounded, I still have a responsibility to keep fighting, on behalf of my country and my fellow Marines, and my way of doing that for the last nine years was to be a positive role model for them," Jones said.
AMPUTEE VETERAN RUNS FOR CONGRESS
Doctors amputated both of his legs after an improvised explosive device [IED] seriously wounded him in Afghanistan in 2010. Since then, he's been vying for a congressional seat in Virginia.
"Even though the Taliban took my legs, America's enemies didn't extinguish in me a desire to serve," Church chimed in.
"It still burns in me... and we're facing a time right now in our country where we need conservative leadership from a new generation that has fought battles from enemies across the globe, that knows what it means to bring an outside perspective that can actually change things for the better in Washington."
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Church, a double amputee after an IED blast in combat, said constituents have seen him as "someone who has fought in some of the hardest circumstances." He said he believed he had what it took to get the job done.
"That's something that I can bring to Washington," he added, "to build coalitions with other veterans... and really push back against some of the things that would really hurt people -- not only in Wisconsin but the country as a whole."
Fox News' Mike Emanuel contributed to this report.
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