The Combat Veterans For Congress PAC is pleased to announce the appointment of a Combat Veteran to the Board of Directors; he is fiscally conservative, supports our efforts to reduce the national debt, rein in the out of control and irresponsible spending by the Obama Administration, and has continued his pledge to protect and defend the US Constitution.  Former Captain Don Bendell, USA (Green Beret), a decorated US Army Special Forces Officer, and Disabled Vietnam Veteran who resides on a ranch south of Florence, Colorado is joining the Board of Directors.  Don was raised in Ohio, and graduated from Tallmadge High School in Akron, Ohio in 1966.  In 1997 Don received a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Business from Colorado Christian University in Colorado Springs.  In 2011, Don received his Masters of Science Degree in Leadership from Ken Blanchard School of Business in Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, AZ.  

In 1966, following graduation from high school, Don was sworn into the US Army.  He completed his basic training at Fort Benning, GA, followed by Advanced Individual Training at Fort Dix, New Jersey; he was assigned as a Military Policeman following AIT.  He volunteered for Infantry OCS, graduated in June of 1967 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, attended Jump School at Fort Benning, then was trained with the 7thSpecial Forces Group at Fort Bragg, North Carolina where he earned his Green Beret.  In June of 1968, Second Lieutenant Bendell was assigned to the 5thSpecial Forces Group in South Vietnam and was promoted to First Lieutenant.  First Lieutenant Bendell was assigned as the Executive Officer - Civil Affairs/Psych Operations Officer of Operational Detachment A-242 at Dak Pek in the northwestern corner of II Corps.  One month later he was assigned Additional Duty as District Coordinator for two districts in the Top Secret CIA-operated Phoenix Program in Dak Pek and Dak Sut Districts.  First Lieutenant Bendell and his 12 man A-Team were embedded with 700 Jeh Montagnard tribesmen in the most remote jungle location and highest mountains in South Vietnam, interdicting North Vietnamese Army forces coming into South Vietnam down the Ho Chi Minh Trail thru Laos.  Over the next 9 months 1stLT Bendell led company sized combat operations of the Montagnard warriors at the Special Forces Camps at Dak Seang, Dak To, Ben Het, Polei Kleng, and in the Plei Trap Valley.  In March 1969, 1stLT Bendell was medically-evacuated first to Japan and then back to Fort Bragg, NC. After recuperating, 1stLT Bendell was assigned to the 3rdSpecial Forces Group as the Assistant Staff Intelligence Officer (S2), shortly thereafter in June 1969 he was promoted to Captain.  CPT Bendell was assigned to be in charge of all Top Secret area studies for the continent of Africa. He attended the US Army Staff Intelligence Officers Course at Fort Holabird, MD and graduated on the Commandant’s List.  After the 3rdSpecial Forces Group was deactivated in late 1969 CPT Bendell was assigned as an Assistant Staff Operations Officer (S3) of the 6thSpecial Forces Group with responsibility for all countries in the Middle East.  In June, 1970, Capt Bendell was Honorably Discharged from the US Army. 

Initially, Don went into Executive Sales, but eventually he opened and operated a Martial Arts School in North Carolina, to follow a passion he developed in the Army.  Don has followed that passion for over 46 years and is still refining his expertise in Martial Arts; Don is the Grandmaster Instructor in freestyle Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Jujitsu, Muay Thai, and owns & operates Bendell Karate in Pueblo West, Colorado.  In 1995, Don was inducted into the International Karate and Kickboxing Hall of Fame, and his wife Shirley was inducted in 2009, making them the only couple in history to both be Hall of Fame inductees.  In the mid-1970s, Don taught a combination of Tae Kwon Do, Jujitsu, and kickboxing at Fort Bragg, North Carolina Boxing Club twice per week to members of the US Army Special Forces and the 82nd Airborne Division.  He also assisted, as civilian volunteer, then Fort Bragg and 18th Airborne Corps Commanding General Hank Emmerson set up the US Army’s “Fit to Fight” program. In 2006, Don Bendell was appointed by the Colorado Governor to the Colorado Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, and served on the Council until 2012 under three governors.  

Don Bendell is also a well known tracker and has searched for and has been successful tracking missing hikers and fugitives in his spare time, and wrote a hardcover book about it entitled “Tracks of Hope…a Memoir” which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.  Don has worked for and alongside many law enforcement agencies doing so including the Navajo Tribal Police, the FBI, etc.  Two of the 26 books that Don authored have been listed as number one on the Amazon.Com best-seller list in the past 2 years; there are over 3 million copies of his 26 books in print worldwide.  Don also wrote, produced, directed, and co-starred in a low budget action full length feature film which was distributed in 164 countries in 1984.   

Don was the National Deputy Executive Director for Veterans for Romney in the 2012 Presidential Campaign.  Don is a Decader Life Member and former President of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Special Forces Association, a Life Member of the Special Operations Association, the Disabled American Veterans, the VFW, and the American Legion.   Don Bendell has appeared on the FOX News Network, been interviewed on many national radio talk shows, and has been the subject of feature stories in “Black Belt,” “Soldier Of Fortune,” “Roundup,” American Cowboy,” “American Spectator,” “BowHunter,” “ Washington Times”, and has had his conservative editorials published in many other national publications and blogs.  

Don Bendell has been married to his wife Shirley for 31 years; two of their grown sons are E-7 Non Commissioned Officers and decorated members of the Green Berets, serving with the 10thSpecial Forces Group at Fort Carson, CO.  Don also has two grown daughters, two other grown sons, and 11 grandchildren.   The Combat Veterans For Congress PAC is pleased to have former US Special Forces Captain Don Bendell, USA (Green Beret) join its Board of Directors; we looks forward to working with him.   The military is one of the few remaining institutions producing the caliber of men and women needed to restore this nation to the greatness our Founding Fathers envisioned.  Captain Bendell is a Veteran who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to “The United States of America” for an amount “up to and including his life.”