Welcome Home!

Late last Friday evening, word got out the Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, the US Marine being held in Mexico for taking a wrong turn at the border, had been released.  And indeed he has.

Welcome Home Sgt. Tahmooressi!

Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi

While we are certainly thrilled to have Sgt. Tahmooressi back home, we can only imagine what pain and suffering our beloved US Marine was exposed to during what I consider to be a kidnapping.  There is no doubt Sgt. Tahmooressi will face hurdles as he tries to move forward in his life, and we offer our full support and best wishes in his endeavor.

The citizenry of our nation should be appalled that this whole ordeal ever happened in the first place.  For a citizen, much less a Marine, to be held in Mexico in the fashion he was by our supposed friend and neighbor Mexico is very troubling.

Of much more concern is that apparent lack of attention paid to this matter by our Commander in Chief, who seems to have done next to nothing to persuade the Mexican authorities to release the innocent Marine.  One might surmise, that with all the help we give Mexico on an annual basis, President Obama would have a great negotiating position to fight for his release.  By all accounts, and I will stand corrected should information come out to the contrary, Obama was not willing to engage Mexico regarding the release of Sgt. Tahmooressi.

Florida Senator Bill Nelson did not appear to be concerned about the plight of Sgt. Tahmooressi either, troubling since Sgt. Tahmooressi is from Weston down on the west coast of Florida. How sad.

Perhaps the strongest advocate for the release of Sgt. Tahmooressi was FOX News Greta Van Susteren, who continued to present his story on FOX News Channel while most media outlets buried the story. Others of note who I know helped keep the story alive were Mark Levin, Glenn Beck, Oliver North, Sean Hannity and Sarah Palin.

Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Duncan Hunter (R:CA) worked hard to get Sgt. Tahmooressi released. Those who were present and most helpful in his release were Sgt. Robert Buchanan, Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ.), former governor Bill Richardson (D:NM), Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) and former Marine and talk show host Montel Williams, who is among the most vocal advocate for the veterans of this nation.

It is worth noting that Sgt. Tahmooressi's mother, Jill Tahmooressi, worked tirelessly for the release of her son.  Tonight, they are together enjoying a beautiful evening here in The Sunshine State.  God Bless them both!