VALOR: Brooks earned his

Our past primary campaign season was mostly civil. A few candidates, however, were the targets of unwarranted character assassination and outright dishonest accusations.

Bill Brooks was one of those so targeted. A few of his most vocal critics campaigned against Bill by wrongly accusing him of stolen valor.

In part, stolen valor is the act of falsely reporting military service and decorations in political campaigns and on job applications. Bill was also publicly accused of desecrating the memory of military veterans. Some of his critics claim to be veterans themselves. Such maliciousness is one of the most vicious and dishonorable accusations a veteran can make against a fellow veteran.

There are some things greater than Party and political ambition; principles that hold humanity together and truths that are enduring. Defending the honor of one of our disabled veterans is one of those cases. I want to assure Kootenai County citizens, Bill is not guilty of stolen valor. I’ve seen his DD-214 and his unit designation. This document supports Bill’s profession of his military language training and his service in the US Army Security Agency. Bill had top secret/special intelligence/crypto graphic access clearance.

As conscientious voters, we must fully vet all claims of our candidates. Exercising careful attention when considering the source of information we receive about our candidates, is equally important.

Finally, I would like to publicly congratulate Bill for his having been invited to become a member of the Pappy Boyington Marine Corps Detachment.

DEBORAH ROSE

Kootenai County