Soldier Mom Backs Obama Over Bracelet

[unhappycamper]

Soldier Mom Backs Obama Over Bracelet
September 29, 2008
Associated Press

MILWAUKEE - The mother of a Wisconsin Soldier who died in Iraq says she was "ecstatic" when Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama mentioned during the Sept. 25 debate the bracelet she gave him in honor of her son.

Tracy Jopek of Merrill told The Associated Press on Sunday she was honored that Obama remembered Sgt. Ryan David Jopek, who was killed in 2006 by a roadside bomb.

Jopek criticized Internet reports suggesting Obama, D-Ill., exploited her son for political purposes.

"I don't understand how people can take that and turn it into some garbage on the Internet," she said.

Jopek acknowledged e-mailing the Obama campaign in February asking that the presidential candidate not mention her son in speeches or debates. But she said Obama's mention on Friday was appropriate because he was responding after Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee, said a Soldier's mother gave him a bracelet.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/soldier-mom-backs-obama-over-bracelet.html?col=1186032310810