Over 300 Republicans hear candidates, war heroes at Rockwall GOP Reagan Day event

By J.J. Smith. Over 300 committed Republicans attended the Rockwall County GOP’s annual Reagan Day Dinner Saturday night at the Hilton Bella Harbor Hotel to meet and hear a number of Texas political leaders, military heroes and Rockwall County political candidates.

Texas Governor Rick Perry, Congressmen Ralph Hall and Sam Johnson, plus U.S Air Force fighter pilot Scott F. O’Grady were the featured speakers.

Gov. Perry was campaigning for his third elected term in office. He has been Governor of Texas for 11 years, after being appointed to the office when former Gov. George Bush was elected President of the United States.

Fifteen-term Rockwall Congressman Ralph Hall is seeking his sixteenth term in office. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1980. From 1942-45 he was an aircraft carrier jet pilot for the US Navy.

First elected to the House representing Texas 3rd Congressional District in 1991, Sam Johnson returned home to Texas after serving in the U.S. Air Force for 29-years as a highly-decorated fighter pilot. He flew combat missions in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars and was a prisoner of war in Hanoi for nearly seven years.

O’ Grady is a former United States Air Force fighter pilot who gained prominence after the June 2, 1995 Mrkonjić Grad incident, in which he ejected over Bosnia when his F-16C was shot down by Bosnian Serbs while he was patrolling the no-fly zone. He survived for six days by eating leaves, grass and ants, and avoiding Serb patrols while trying to contact NATO’s airborne command center. He evaded capture and was rescued on June 8 by U.S. Marines . The film Behind Enemy Lines is loosely based on his story.

For more information about the Rockwall County GOP, visit www.rockwallgop.com.