Delaware Democratic Veterans Caucus

06/01/2026

Pride Month and the People Who Served in Silence

LGBTQ Americans have defended this country since before it had a name for them. They flew the missions, stood the watches, manned the guns, and carried the wounded. Many did it knowing that if the truth came out, the same nation they protected would discharge them in disgrace.

Harvey Milk served as a Navy diving officer during the Korean War. His commanding officer called him outstanding. The Navy forced him out in 1955 once it questioned his sexual orientation, and he left with a discharge that branded a patriot as a problem. He went on to become one of the first openly gay elected officials in America before he was assassinated for it. He was wearing his Navy diver belt buckle the day he was killed.

Leonard Matlovich earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star in Vietnam. He stepped on a land mine serving a country that would later throw him out for who he loved. The epitaph he chose says it plainly. The military gave him a medal for killing a man and a discharge for loving one.

For decades the policy was to look away or to purge. Don't Ask, Don't Tell ended more than thirteen thousand careers before Congress repealed it in 2011. Every one of those discharges cost the country a trained, willing, capable defender. None of it made us safer. It only made us smaller.

We are not telling this history because it is finished. We are telling it because it is repeating. This time last June, the Navy stripped Harvey Milk's name from the ship that honored him, and it timed the insult to Pride Month on purpose. Thousands of transgender service members, people already in uniform, already deployed, already meeting every standard asked of them, are being forced out right now under a policy that mistakes prejudice for readiness.

A country does not strengthen its military by firing the people willing to die for it. Service is service. Courage is courage. The oath does not ask who you love before it asks what you are willing to give.

This Pride Month, the Delaware Democratic Veterans and Military Families Caucus honors every LGBTQ American who has worn the uniform, named and unnamed, remembered and erased. You earned your place. We will not let anyone tell you otherwise.

05/23/2026

This Memorial Day, we pause to honor the more than 1.3 million Americans who gave their lives in service to this country. As Democratic veterans and military families, we know this day carries a weight that goes beyond the long weekend. Please take a moment to read and reflect.

Since our nation's founding, more than 1.3 million American service members have died in war. Memorial Day is the day we honor those who gave their lives in service to this country.

Many veterans ask that we not say "Happy Memorial Day." For those who served, this day can mean revisiting the loss of friends and comrades who never came home. So this weekend, as you spend time with family and friends, take a moment to reflect on those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Check in on the veterans in your life. Offer support if they need it, and space if they want it. If you know a veteran who is struggling, help is available through the 988 Crisis Line.

Honoring the fallen means more than ceremonies once a year. It means supporting healthcare, combating homelessness, protecting veterans and military families, and defending the democratic rights so many Americans died to protect.

It also means demanding that we never send Americans into war unless every other option has been exhausted. Every name on every memorial wall represents a profound sacrifice. Those decisions must never be made casually, politically, or dishonestly.

To truly honor those who gave what Lincoln called "the last full measure of devotion," we must hold our leaders to a standard worthy of that sacrifice.
Our fallen heroes deserve that much. So do the living who may be called to serve next.

Learn more about the Delaware Democratic Veterans and Military Families Caucus at deldemvets.org.

05/16/2026

Thank you to our Armed Forces! As veterans and military family members, we know better than most the special challenges our active military and National Guard members - and their families - face. Thank you for your service to our nation. 🇺🇸

Today is Armed Forces Day, a day dedicated not to veterans of past service, but to the men and women currently serving in uniform.

Delaware has always been proud of its military community. From Dover Air Force Base to the Delaware Army National Guard and Delaware Air National Guard, our state understands the meaning of service, sacrifice, and duty.

Today, we say thank you, not as a formality, but with genuine gratitude for those who wear the uniform and carry that responsibility on behalf of all of us.

To every Delaware service member serving at home and abroad: we see you, we honor you, and we are deeply grateful for your service.

05/10/2026

There is a particular kind of strength that belongs to military mothers. It is the strength to write the letter, pack the box, and hold steady when the silence stretches too long. From the moment their sons and daughters ship off to basic training, these women become a lifeline, those care packages arriving like proof that someone back home still sees you, still thinks of you, still counts the days.

When their children deploy, military mothers do not simply wait. They organize. They rally neighbors, coworkers, and strangers to fill boxes with the small necessities that make a forward operating base feel a little less far from home. Sunscreen, socks, snacks, a handwritten note tucked in the corner. They do this not because anyone asked them to, but because that is what they have always done.

And when their veterans come home, carrying things that do not always show, military mothers are often the first ones in the room and the last ones to leave. They do not always have the right words, but they show up. Again and again, they show up.

On this Mother's Day, the Delaware Democratic Veterans and Military Families Caucus honors every mother who has loved a service member or veteran. Your strength has carried more of us than you know.

Thank you.❤️

05/04/2026

Today, the Caucus honors the loss of family. Our Caucus Vice Chair for Military Families, Jess Thornburg, lost her father, US Navy Vietnam War veteran David Wayne Overbey, on April 26, 2026. An Aviation Boatswain’s Mate on the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea, he was part of the Aircraft Launch and Recovery Team. He was also a member of the Cherokee Nation. He answered his country's call, served with honor, and raised a family that continues to serve this community. We hold him in our hearts and extend our deepest condolences to Jess and her entire family.

Fair winds and following seas, sailor. Your watch is done.

04/16/2026

Your caucus advocating for vets at the state capitol.

03/30/2026

Senator Tammy Duckworth (b. 1968)
U.S. Army — Iraq War Veteran, Purple Heart Recipient

This Women's History Month, the Delaware Democratic Party Veterans and Military Family Members Caucus is proud to honor the brave women who have served our nation in uniform.

On November 12, 2004, U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter pilot Major Tammy Duckworth was shot down over Iraq. She lost both legs and partial use of her right arm. She could have stepped away from service. Instead, she stepped forward — again and again.

Tammy Duckworth went on to serve in the Illinois National Guard, become a U.S. Congresswoman, and then a U.S. Senator from Illinois. She is the first Thai-American woman elected to Congress, the first Senator to give birth while in office, and the recipient of the Purple Heart for her combat wounds.

She has never stopped fighting — for veterans, for families, for the country she bled for.

This Women’s History Month, we are proud to honor Senator Tammy Duckworth: soldier, public servant, and an inspiration to veterans everywhere.

# WomensHistoryMonth

03/29/2026

Rear Admiral Grace Hopper (1906–1992)
U.S. Navy — WWII to Cold War, Pioneer of Computer Science
This Women's History Month, the Delaware Democratic Party Veterans and Military Family Members Caucus is proud to honor the brave women who have served our nation in uniform.
She helped win a world war, revolutionized computing, and served in the United States Navy for over four decades. Meet Rear Admiral Grace Hopper — "Amazing Grace."

Grace Hopper joined the Navy Reserve in 1943 and was assigned to the Bureau of Ships Computation Project at Harvard, where she worked on the Mark I computer — one of the earliest programmable computers in the world. After the war, she stayed in the Navy and continued pushing the boundaries of what was possible.

She developed the first compiler for a computer programming language and was instrumental in developing COBOL, one of the earliest high-level programming languages that transformed how humans communicate with computers. Her work laid the foundation for the modern software industry.

She retired — and was recalled to active duty — multiple times, finally retiring at age 79 as the oldest active-duty commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 2016.

Grace Hopper used to hand out pieces of wire 11.8 inches long — the distance light travels in one nanosecond — to help people understand the value of a single moment. She never wasted one.

# WomensHistoryMonth

03/29/2026

Today is National Vietnam War Veterans Day, and we pause to honor all Americans who served in that war.

They answered their country's call during one of the most divisive periods in American history. Many came home to indifference or hostility when they deserved gratitude and respect. That debt has never been fully repaid, but remembrance is where we begin.

We honor them not just for what they endured in the field, but for what they carried home, often in silence, for the rest of their lives. Their service was real. Their sacrifice was real. And their place in the story of American military service is permanent.

We also remember the more than 58,000 who did not come home, whose names are etched into the black granite of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington. Each name represents a life fully lived until it wasn't, a family forever changed, a sacrifice this nation must never forget.

We are also proud to recognize our own DVMFC Board Secretary, Tom Iarossi, a Vietnam veteran whose service to his country is reflected in his continued commitment to Delaware's veterans community.

To Tom, to all who served, and to the families of those whose names are on the Wall: we see you. We remember. We are grateful.