James T. Conway, a retired four-star Marine general who served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2006-2010, announced this week he will endorse an Air Force veteran who did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan for the Senate.
Jon Keyser served as an Air Force Major specializing in intelligence, and his efforts helped the U.S. military kill or capture 107 high-value targets on the battlefield, reports the
Washington Free Beacon. A graduate of the Air Force Academy, he began serving as a member of the Colorado House of Representatives in January 2015. Earlier this year, he announced his intention to run for the U.S. Senate.
A Republican, Keyser will try to unseat Democrat Michael Bennet in November.
"Fifteen years ago my fellow Marine Division commanders and I sat at a conference table, in the wake of 9/11, and expressed our mutual concerns that this younger generation might not make the good soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines we needed if the country went to war," Conway said, reports the Beacon. "We felt that a lack of traditional discipline and not enough 'hard knocks' growing up had, likely, softened the youth we were recruiting. We could not have been more wrong.
"I had the opportunity on multiple occasions to observe these young men and women in close combat — and their raw courage, their sense of patriotism, and their self-sacrifice were eye-watering to behold. Jon Keyser is of this generation of tremendous young Americans."
"Together, we can send the proven warriors of his generation to Washington — to fight for the future of generations to come," Conway added.
A bronze star recipient, Keyser said he decided to run for the Senate in part because of Bennet's decision to support the Iran nuclear deal, according to a
Denver Post report.
"I think 2016 will be an absolutely pivotal year for our nation, and I'm running against Michael Bennet because I think he's dangerous," Keyser told the Post in January. "He doesn't understand the enemies that we face."
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