[1] Vets for Bernie was founded in June 2015 by former United States Marine Tyson Manker, a veteran of the 2003 Iraq invasion,[2] at Sanders' first town hall event at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
[3][4][5] After The Boston Globe indicated wider military support for the Senator,[6] Manker and several other veterans began organizing themselves and working to identify other like-minded members of the United States Armed Forces.
[7] Air Force veteran Alexandra Ducatte joined VFB as National co-director, and membership eventually grew across all fifty states, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
"[1] On July 30, 2015, Manker promoted Vets for Bernie and military support for Sanders in a live interview with John Seigenthaler on Al Jazeera America.
[20] On March 25, 2016, the Sanders campaign held a national conference call on Veterans' Issues with Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Manker and VFB Senior Advisor, Colonel Gordon Sumner, U.S. Army, ret.