During a trip to Kuwait and Germany last week, Rep. Phil Hare runs into State Sen. Debbie Halvorson's stepson, who was injured while serving in Afghanistan:
At Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, he encountered an Army captain who asked Hare if he is a congressman.
“I said I am,” Hare said Monday at a state Capitol news conference. “I thought, ‘Uh oh, here we go.’ He said, ‘Well, my stepmother’s running for Congress in Illinois. Debbie Halvorson.’”
It turned out the Army captain was Jay Bush. Bush’s father, Jim, is married to Halvorson, a Crete Democrat who is the Illinois Senate majority leader.
Jay Bush, serving in Afghanistan, had been riding in a truck that came under fire at night, according to Hare. Ordered to evacuate, Bush jumped out of the side of the truck. He did not realize the vehicle was parked on a bridge, so he fell 25 feet, landing on rocks and injuring his spine.
“He is a wonderful young man,” Hare said. “And God must have been looking out for him because to fall that far and have something like that happen and be able to probably, in all likelihood, be able to walk and use his arms and legs again, that will be a wonderful day for him.”
When Hare returned to the United States Thursday, he found a message on his cell phone from Halvorson. She was asking him to inquire about her stepson, if possible, and to contact Jim Bush with any information.
Hare called the elder Bush, told him he’d just seen Jay 12 hours earlier and reported that he was in good spirits.
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