Glenn Grothman: wrong for writing off veteran.

Sgt. Chet Millard deserves better.

Iraq/Afghanistan Vet Chet Millard Fighting for Freedom in the Workplace | FDL News Desk

MADISON, WI (FDL) – Sen. Glenn Grothman (R) appeared this morning on MSNBC, and was asked about the protests in the Capitol. He dismissed them. “Most of them are college students who are always up for a demonstration,” he sniffed. It’s a common refrain from supporters of Walker, marginalizing their opponents by calling them hippie college students.

First of all, 100,000 Wisconsinites are expected in Madison today. I don’t think that many students matriculate at UW. Second, and Grotham wouldn’t know this because he and his Republican colleagues wouldn’t set foot in the common areas of the Rotunda, but there are families sleeping over. There are cops. There are firefighters. There are teachers. There are public union and private union and non-union workers. There are single moms and sheet metal workers and janitors and truck drivers and office workers. And there are students. Last I checked they all have a vote and a voice in our democracy.

But maybe the best example disarming this dirty hippie meme is Sgt. First Class Chet Millard, who I spoke with a couple days ago. Millard served in Iraq in 2003-04 and in Afghanistan in 2009, as a platoon sergeant from the Wisconsin National Guard. While on tour in Afghanistan on a mission disarming roadside bombs, his vehicle was hit. He suffered multiple injuries, including traumatic brain injury, and was taken on a Medi-vac to the hospital. A Time Magazine photojournalist snapped his picture, and itappeared on the magazine’s cover.