GREENVILLE, NC (WITN) – A band of national security leaders have been on the road supporting Vice President Kamala Harris and encouraging voters to head to the polls, and they’ve stopped right here in Greenville.

National Security Leaders for America is a bipartisan organization of retired military and national security personnel advocating for a healthy democracy.

A group of their members have been on a bus tour, campaigning in several battleground states before the election, including here in North Carolina.

One of the stops the group made was at the Pitt County Democratic Headquarters in Greenville on Friday.

They say the purpose of their tour is to show their support for Vice President Harris and encourage voters to vote in this crucial election.

“Your voice, your vote is your power,” said Col. Sandra Wilson, former executive director of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. “I implore all Americans to consider the seriousness of this issue. Use your voice and vote to lead us forward.”

The leaders also talked about the large military presence in East Carolina and urged their fellow officers to think about what matters most in the election.

“I think our army will respond to the idea of ​​selflessness. Come to think of it, who’s looking after you? Who is really interested in your welfare and the welfare of your family?” said Lt. Gen. Mike Hamel, former commander of the Space and Missile System Center and the Air Force Space Command. “I think there’s been a long history of Kamala Harris and others in high Democratic government office really caring about this.”

At the polls on Friday, veterans who went to the polls early said they were exercising their right to unify a nation that has been politically divided.

“When I was in the military, I was in Vietnam, and it was not a time of unity within the country,” said Vietnam veteran Bob Gurganus. “It’s important to share our desires, hopes and dreams in a unified way, and voting is a way to express that.”

The group made stops in Greensboro and Wilmington on Thursday and Friday during the North Carolina tour. They also campaigned in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan ahead of the election.

In September, more than 700 national security leaders who are part of the coalition signed a letter showing his support for Vice President Harris by declaring former President Donald Trump “unfit to be commander in chief.”

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