Letters: J.D. Vance an unlikely success story. He's 'walking proof of the American Dream.'

Letters to the Editor
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J.D. Vance understands our challenges

J.D. Vance should have never been an American success story — the cards were stacked against him from the start.

He grew up in a single-parent household with his mother, who suffered from drug addiction, and was eventually raised by his grandmother. His family didn’t have much, and Middletown didn’t offer a promising future, either.

More: Who is J.D. Vance? The Trump-backed Ohio GOP Senate nominee

J.D. enlisted in the United States Marine Corps after he graduated from high school. He made it through boot camp, and went on to serve America overseas in the Iraq War. J.D. referred to his time on active duty as “a four-year crash course in character education,” as he learned the lessons he never learned as a poor kid in Middletown.

J.D. is walking proof of the American Dream.

J.D. Vance is running for U.S. Senate, and I am proud to say that he has my vote. In a very refreshing way, he’s not a typical politician. J.D. experienced, and overcame, real adversity.

Few people have a clearer understanding of the most crucial issues facing Americans today than J.D. Vance. Our challenges are great: China, the economy, immigration, and on and on. Now is not the time for leaders who don’t have what it takes.

More: J.D. Vance’s 'disdain' for Ukraine proof he's wrong for Ohioans and Donald Trump| Opinion

Ohioans deserve a senator who truly understands the challenges we face, because he has lived through them himself. Ohioans deserve a senator who will deliver for us, because he has the ideas and the drive to get big things done. That senator will be J.D.  Vance.

Niraj Antani, Ohio state senator (R-6)

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'Kansas showed us the way'

Ohioans, Kansas showed us the way. We should put up for a vote a constitutional amendment like the one in Kansas that protects abortion rights. Kansas voters turned out in droves to keep it in their constitution and stopped its repeal by a 59% to 41% margin. Let's do it here.

Jack Nasar, Upper Arlington

State Rep. Stephanie Clayton, D-Overland Park, reacts to election returns on an abortion referendum Aug. 2 at the Overland Park Convention Center in Kansas. Voters protected the right to abortion in their state, rejecting a measure that would have allowed their Republican-controlled Legislature to tighten restrictions or ban the procedure.
State Rep. Stephanie Clayton, D-Overland Park, reacts to election returns on an abortion referendum Aug. 2 at the Overland Park Convention Center in Kansas. Voters protected the right to abortion in their state, rejecting a measure that would have allowed their Republican-controlled Legislature to tighten restrictions or ban the procedure.

Bring on abortion referendum

Let’s reinstate abortion rights in Ohio, like Kansas! Where’s the referendum?

Marlene Hyman, Columbus

Portman denied burn pit victims help

I am angered and appalled at Sen. Rob Portman’s vote against the Sgt. First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, known as the PACT Act, and against the Veterans Administration assistance it could provide to veterans who had been exposed to the toxic fumes of burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.

More: Bill to help burn-pit victims inspired by Ohio veteran delayed by U.S. Senate Republicans

What makes it even worse is that Sgt. Robinson was an Ohioan, healthy and fit, before becoming sickened by his exposure and dying as he gasped for breath.

Heath Robinson, of Pickerington, died from cancer in 2020 after being exposed to toxic smoke from trash burning pits during his deployment to the Middle East.
Heath Robinson, of Pickerington, died from cancer in 2020 after being exposed to toxic smoke from trash burning pits during his deployment to the Middle East.

Ohio Sen. Portman’s purported justification for his vote against health care for these veterans was the mandatory spending provisions that would fund their care, although he had previously voted yes on a prior version of this bill, and in the past, he had no problem with the trillions spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

More: 'Heath was a fighter to the very end': Biden honors Ohio veteran during State of the Union

Burn pit veterans suffering from rare lung cancers and other diseases that have ravaged their bodies have had their cases denied by the VA at a reported rate of 70% because they were said to lack definitive proof that their disease was caused by the toxics emitted by the burn pit.

The PACT Act would require the VA to recognize their claims and provide them with health care. It is essential that doctors familiar with the diseases caused by burn pits are available to provide treatment through the V.A. because most physicians in private practice do not have experience in this area.

Mary Jo Kilroy, former member of Congress (Oh-15)

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Letters: JD Vance overcame adversity to become American success story