Congressman Chris Gibson, Col-USA (Ret) (R-NY-20) http://chrisgibsonforcongress.com of Kinderhook, NY served in the US Army for 24 years and is running for election for Congress in the 20th Congressional District of New York.  He is running against Congressman Scott Murphy, who won a special election last year and has since voted against the interests of his constituents several times, including recently when he flip-flopped and voted "yes" for the health care bill.  Chris Gibson grew up in Kinderhook and was a point guard and Co-Captain of Ichabod Crane’s High School basketball team; he graduated in 1982.  Chris went on to graduate magna cum laude from Siena College 1986, while earning a ROTC Commission.  Subsequently, Col Gibson earned an MPA and MA in Government in 1995 from CornellUniversity.  In 1998 he received his PhD in government from Cornell.

Chris Gibson entered the US Army as a second lieutenant in March 1986.  Over the course of his 24 year Army career, he rose to the rank of Colonel and deployed 7 times; including 4 combat tours in Iraq and separate deployments to Kosovo, and to the southwestern US for a counter-drug operation.  While in command, Col Gibson’s Battalion was involved in combat operations in Mosul in support of the first national election in the new Iraq, his Battalion Task Force earned the Valorous Unit Award.  For their actions in Tal Afar during the 2nd and 3rd national elections in Iraq his Battalion and the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment was recognized for excellence by President George W. Bush and earned a 2nd Valorous Unit Award.  Most recently, just prior to his retirement, he deployed to Haitiwhere he commanded the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team during the opening month of that Humanitarian Relief Operation.   Former Col Gibson’s combat awards include two Legion of Merit Medals, four Bronze Star Medals, a Purple Heart Medal,  the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Combat Infantry Badge with Star, Master Parachutist Badge with Ranger Tab, and multiple campaign medals.    

Former Col Gibson served as a Congressional Fellow with Representative Jerry Lewis (R-CA), the Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, and completed a Hoover National Security Affairs Fellowship at Stanford University.  He is a member of the American Legion, the VFW, the NRA, the Knights of Columbus, and is a member of the St John’s Church of Valatie.  Col Gibson has been endorsed by the Republican Party to run for Congress in the 20th District of NY. He has also been endorsed by the HudsonValleyCampaign for Liberty, Upstate Conservative Coalition,  and the combat Veterans For Congress PAC.  Chris Gibson is the author of “Securing the State,” a book on national security decision-making that was published in 2008.  For over 13 years Chris has been married to Mary Jo, a NY State Clinical Social Worker, and they have three children aged 12, 10, and 8.   

If you review former Col Gibson’s positions on his Web site, you would be pleased with his stands; they agree with the Combat Veterans For Congress Mission Statement.  We look forward to working with him, and are pleased that a Combat Veteran of his caliber is running for Congress.  If you have friends, associates, or relatives who know voters in the 20th Congressional District of New York, kindly pass this E-mail on to them, and ask them to support former Col Gibson by working in his campaign, providing financial support for his campaign in any amount, and/or by networking with others who would be willing to support his campaign.  The military is one of the few remaining institutions producing the caliber of men and women needed to restore this nation to the greatness our Founding Fathers envisioned.