Congressional contender Denny Heck made a campaign swing through the area yesterday, making a stop at Bill Ammons’ barber shop in Kelso, as many candidates have over the years. Heck says that he understands the anger that the electorate is feeling these days, and that the primary focus needs to be on getting people back to work. Ammons’ invited crowd included a number of veterans, who spoke with Heck about the need for improved access to health care, especially dealing with issues of traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. One of those on the scene described a local soldier who went through three explosions while deployed in Iraq, one of which sent the soldier to military hospitals in Germany and Georgia. However, the story goes that the soldier was denied a Purple Heart, because “no skin was broken.” Heck pledged to try and rectify that situation as his first act in Congress, if he’s elected. The Olympia Democrat is currently engaged in a tooth-and-nail battle over the Congressional seat that Brian Baird is vacating.
