Ron DeSantis is the only former military man in the 2024 presidential race, and on Saturday he talked about how a day of national tragedy drove him into service.
The Governor, addressing a crowd at a congressional fundraiser in Ankeny, Iowa, talked about how September 11 drove his decision to enlist, something he didn’t expect during his Ivy League education.
“I was a baseball player all through college,” DeSantis said. “I didn’t necessarily think I was going to make it to the big leagues, but I thought maybe I could do it on the business side or do something else. And then 9/11 happened and it changed my outlook on military service.”
The Governor explained why he joined the “all-volunteer force.”
“People weren’t being drafted to do it. It was basically just people that were raising their hand and I felt an obligation to do my part, given the nation’s needs. So I raised my hand. I volunteered. I would have made a lot more money if I would have done other things. But I thought it was important to do.”
Upon his return, he had insights about how military service took a toll on families of service members.
“I felt thankful to be an American and I felt appreciative of everybody who’s been willing to fight to protect our freedoms here in this country. But then I started reflecting on what I saw over in Iraq and not even necessarily the bad guys, the people that you would serve with soldiers, Marines, even Special Forces like Navy Seals in an all volunteer force.”
“Many of these people had done multiple deployments just since September 11, they had spent huge amounts of time away from their families. Unfortunately, a lot of their families broke up and they weren’t able to sustain it. So I saw first hand the toll that military service was taking on a very small number of people relative to our overall population.”
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