Hey John,

It’s International Women’s Day, and I want to tell you about the woman who had the greatest impact in my life: my mom, Patty.

You know from my email on Wednesday that my mom taught me to act in service to others, to take care of people. But today I’m sharing how she took care of us.

After my parents divorced, my single mom was raising my brother, sister, and myself on her own. We lived in a trailer park in Washington state and were reliant on food stamps, free meals at school, and welfare while my mom went back to nursing school and applied for a commission in the USAF.  

Everything changed after Patty finished her nursing degree and earned a commission in the United States Air Force when I was eight years old.

We moved to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas where we had military healthcare, commissary, exchange privileges, housing, and a secure, safe neighborhood to live in on base. We had access to swimming pools, bowling alleys, and restaurants. We were welcomed into the military community and family spaces that we were previously too poor to enjoy.

But most importantly, my mom Patty’s new path provided us with stability that I’d never experienced before as a kid, and I never took it for granted.

At nine years old, I met Marine Corps security force trainees on Lackland AFB while playing at the pool, and I knew that I wanted to join the Marines and serve my country like my mom. Not long after, I was old enough to reflect on what my family had been through.

Remembering how our lives changed after Patty joined the military got me thinking.

Shouldn’t the benefits we have now be given to every family that’s struggling like we were? Why WERE we struggling for so long?

Too many Americans live paycheck to paycheck and still struggle to put food on the table and make ends meet today. Maybe you’ve been one of them, John. Maybe you are right now.

Either way, you know what I’ve known since I was a kid: you can’t pull yourself up by your bootstraps when you don’t have any boots.

The Air Force gave my mom the boots, and I want every American to have the same support regardless of their service.

We need to re-evaluate how we invest in our citizens, in healthcare, and in education, and the list goes on and on.

When we give people the resources to pull themselves up, they do better for their children and loved ones who rely on them. They make their communities better.

I know it because I’ve seen it with my own eyes, the eyes of a kid learning about the world by watching his mom.

I’m taking my mom’s lesson on servitude and the values she instilled in me to every stop on this campaign, and then to Congress when I’m elected in November. If you have the stability and security to help me get there, you can join my fight here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ike-mccorkle

Every time I vote on a bill, it will be for working families like mine and parents like my mom, Patty McCorkle.

Semper Fi,

Ike McCorkle

Combat Wounded

U.S. Marine Corps, Retired

Democratic Candidate for CO-04

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