Elaine Brower of New York, NY said:

"As a member of Military Families Speak Out, and the mother of a son who is currently serving in Iraq on his third deployment with the Marine Corps Reserves, I believe it is past time for the candidates of our Country, specifically the Vice Presidential candidates who have children who either have served in Iraq or are soon to be deployed, to address the fact that our troops must come home now. Not in 2010 or thereafter, but now! The members of our military are honorable and have served their Country with the utmost patriotic ability. It is now up to our leaders to realize the futility of keeping them duty bound to fight and, risk injury or death in a faraway place for a senseless cause."

On her blog, Gold Star Mom Speaks Out (gsmso.blogspot.com/2008/10/blue-star-vice-presidential-candidates.html), Karen Meredith of Mountain View, CA wrote:

"Sarah and Joe, today you are Blue Star Families, those with a loved one serving in the military. On May 30, 2004, my son, Lt Ken Ballard was killed in and I became a Gold Star Mother. It is not a journey that I wish on anyone.

"I don't want either of you to wear a black metal bracelet engraved with your child's name, rank, unit, date & place of death and the words 'Operation Iraqi Freedom'. I also don't want you to replace that blue star on your service flag with one of gold; I don't want another parent to receive a Gold Star Banner. I don't want you to know the reality of receiving that one knock on the door that will change your life forever. I really don't want you to know what it feels like to be escorted to the airport by your local police department and when you see that jet pull up to the gate and the doors of the cargo department open up to reveal a coffin that contains the remains of your oldest child, covered with a red, white and blue American flag, you know your child has made his last journey home. I don't want you to listen to the mournful notes as TAPS is played by an Army bugler in honor of your son's life. I don't want you to receive a folded flag from a general with the words 'on behalf of a grateful nation...' I don't want you to know the emptiness in your heart knowing you will never feel your child's hug, never hear his laugh and never know what heights he might have attained. I don't wish any of this on anyone. Never. Ever.

"Sarah and Joe, you both have a unique position as a military parent that very few people in this country understand; please use that experience and make a commitment to all the troops and their families that your administration will stop the shameless treatment of vets. Vow that war will only be used as a solution of last resort. I urge you both, as military parents, during this Vice-Presidential debate, to commit to ending the war in , bring the troops home and take care of them when they get here."

Meredith is a member of Gold Star Families Speak Out, a national chapter of Military Families Speak Out whose members' loved ones died as a result of the war in .

Paula Rogovin, a member of Military Families Speak Out from Teaneck, NJ whose son in the U.S. Marine Corps just finished his second tour of duty in , had messages for both Governor Palin and Senator Biden:

"No, Governor Palin, the war in is not a plan from God. This is a war based on lies, based on greed. Our loved ones who have been deployed to Iraq, are being misused and abused by making them serve in this illegal and immoral war, sometimes 1, 2, 3, 4, and more times.

"Senator Biden, yes, you voted to give President Bush the right to take us to war, and yes, you now say you want to bring the troop home - we need swifter action to bring all of the troops home NOW! We need an expanded effort by the government to take care of our loved ones when they come home from war.

"We can prevent more deaths and injuries, we can prevent more troops from suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, depleted uranium poisoning, and other physical and psychological injuries - by stopping new deployments and by bringing all of our troops home immediately."