Tom Wakely for Congress

 

December 22nd, 2025

 

For over a dozen years, my wife and I ran a private care home for hospice patients, it was called Ann’s Place. The majority of the 84 people we cared for until they died were military veterans. We never knew any of these people until they came to live with us. And the only thing we ever knew about their lives before death came knocking on their door was what they told us. One of the WWII veterans I spoke with frequently was Col. Wilson; he didn’t like to be called anything other than Col. Wilson. He was a Marine, first and foremost. He was also a fighter pilot. He flew with the Flying Tigers, a unit formed in 1941 to combat the Japanese invasion of China. It was composed of pilots from the U.S. Army Air Corps, Navy, and Marine Corps. As the war heated up, he was reassigned to fight the Japanese in the Pacific. After the war, he continued to fly combat missions, this time in Korea and Vietnam. And boy did this guy like to tell stories.

 

He once told me that after he retired from the Marines, he settled in Hawaii, and like a lot of Marines, he loved to drink beer, whisky, gin; it didn’t matter what his poison was. He said that one day, as he was sitting on a stool in a bar, Jack Lord, the actor who starred in the TV show Hawaii Five-0, which ran from 1968 to 1980, came in and sat on the stool next to him. By the time the two of them had staggered out of the bar, they were best buddies. He also told me that Lord had offered him a job as an extra on the set, and for the next ten years, Col. Wilson found himself acting instead of killing. Another hospice patient I enjoyed talking to was another WWII veteran. His name was Clayton. He told me he was part of the Army’s 4^th Division that landed on Utah Beach on D-Day, and fought their way through France to help liberate Paris in 1944 from the Nazis. He also said he fought at the Battle of Budge, but didn’t want to talk about it, and I told him I understood. 

About a year into Trump’s first term as President, my wife, Col. Wilson, Clayton, two other WWII veterans, and I were sitting on the back porch eating some burgers I had cooked up on the grill. It didn’t take long for the conversation to turn to politics. All these old WWII vets, who often disagreed on a variety of things, all agreed that with Trump’s election the country they had fought for, the country so many of their friends had died for, was heading towards something they never expect to see in the U.S. An authoritarian leader with a god complex. I told everyone sitting around the table that I agreed with them but I was at loss what to do. Both Clayton and Col. Wilson said in unison, “You Fight Like Hell!”

And that is exactly what I plan to do when I am elected to Congress, “Fight Like Hell to Impeach Trump.” Something that is in stark contrast to what Rep. Gabe Vasquez would do. Voters need to remember that Rep. Al Green (D-TX) forced two floor votes to impeach President Donald Trump in 2025. The first was on June 25^th. When Gabe voted with the Republican’s not to impeach and this is the reason he gave, “Impeachment is one of the most serious responsibilities Congress holds. It deserves thoughtful, strategic deliberation, not a rushed vote with no debate or opportunity for consideration. Congress has a duty to take this process seriously.” WTF. I guess ole Gabe didn’t remember all the things Trump’s had done since his return to the White House. Between January and June 2025, Trump took a variety of executive actions on issues including immigration, energy, social policy, and trade, many of which were met with strong Democratic opposition. Things that certainly warranted his impeachment. 

The second floor vote took place in early December 2025. The two articles of impeachment cited the following actions:

• Calling for the execution of Members of Congress: This article referenced a Truth Social post by President Trump in which he labeled the actions of six Democratic lawmakers, who had suggested military members could refuse unlawful orders, as "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH".

• Threatening federal judges and undermining judicial independence: The second article accused President Trump of fostering a climate of political violence, making vituperative comments against federal judges, and thereby putting their safety at risk and eroding the independence of the judiciary. 

Rep. Vasquez reason for voting against Rep. Al Green’s second attempt at impeachment. “No comment.”