Jon Soltz, a leader of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans community is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Soltz served as a Captain during Operation Iraqi Freedom, deploying logistics convoys. Jon Soltz has quickly become one of the most authoritative voices on veterans and military issues interviewed by national outlets such as the Associated Press, Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, TIME, Newsweek, among others, and dozens of local outlets. His numerous media appearances include Jim Lehrer's Newshour on PBS, CNN. MSNBC, FOX. Jon is a frequent contributor to Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Rick Noriega is the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas. Rick served as deputy garrison commander of the KMTC training facility in Kabul, Afghanistan after 9/11. Upon his return from Afghanistan, Rick was tapped by Mayor Bill White as Incident Commander of Houston's Hurricane Katrina relief efforts at the George R. Brown Convention Center (GRB). At the center, Rick coordinated medical, employment, travel, housing and food services for more than 2,000 evacuees living on-site. Since 1999, Rick has served in the Texas House of Representatives.

Andrew Horne is a Senior Advisor to VoteVets.org and a trial attorney in Louisville, Kentucky. He was a Marine for 27 years retiring as a Lt.Col. in November 2006. Lt.Col. Horne commanded a unit in AlAnbar Province, Iraq 2004-2005 and in Kuwait during Desert Storm. He became politically active after his return from Iraq in 2005 and was one of the first of the early-returning Iraq vets to publicly criticize the administrations' handling of the war. He continues to be outspoken on national security and veterans issues and is active in Democratic politics.

Ashwin Madia, the son of immigrants from India, took his parents' lessons of hard work, graduating from Osseo Senior High School, the University of Minnesota and New York University Law School. After law school, Madia joined the U.S. Marine Corps. Stationed in Okinawa, Japan, he served as prosecutor, defense counsel and legal advisor to a Marine Corps commander. Madia subsquently served in Iraq, stationed primarily in Baghdad in 2005 and 2006. Madia finished active duty on July 4, 2006. Prior to announcing his candidacy, Madia practiced law at Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, LLP.

John Boccieri is running for Congress in Ohio's 16th District. As an experienced state legislator, John has been a strong advocate for Northeast Ohio in the state House and Senate. Still a Major in the Air Force Reserve, John has served our nation in more than 40 countries and has 13 years of service in the U.S. Military. An aircraft commander aboard the C-130 Hercules, he recently deployed in four rotations in Iraq and Afghanistan in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. In the legislature, John has been a strong advocate for Ohio’s veterans and military families.

Kevin Maurer has been embedded with the U.S. Special Forces and 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan and Iraq ten times in the last five years. Maurer covered the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan's first parliamentary election. Most recently, he covered the Bush Administration's surge into Baghdad, and wrote the definitive piece about the transformation of Khost from a terrorist haven to a working province in Afghanistan. He currently works for the Associated Press.