NEW YORK — With the presidential election rapidly approaching, the Biden for President campaign has tapped a group of New York veterans to launch an organizing group aimed at engaging the over 830,000 veterans and their families in the state to support Joe Biden for President.

“New York State Veterans and Military Families for Biden” was launched by a group including Saranac Lake native and Army veteran Aaron Gladd, who also is a former Albany-area State Senate candidate.

Joining Gladd in the group are:

Ulster County Executive and Army veteran Pat Ryan; Suffolk County Executive and Army veteran Steve Bellone; Former senior Pentagon official and Army veteran Malia K. Du Mont; Former Syracuse-area Congressional candidate and Navy veteran Roger Misso; Women Veterans and Families Network Founder and Navy veteran Won Palisoul; and Columbia County resident and Navy veteran Andrea Goldstein.

The group issued the following statement:

“We are proud to come together as veterans and launch this group to elect Joe Biden as our next President. Serving in uniform, we know what it means to have each other’s backs. Joe Biden has always had our backs as veterans, and now it’s our turn to have his.

“We have watched with dismay and concern as the current Administration attempts to use the U.S. military in increasingly political ways, including against U.S. citizens peaceably demonstrating on American soil. We join many fellow veterans across the country, including several former Chairs of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in condemning this distortion of the Constitutionally-defined relationship between the military and its civilian leadership. Such improper use of the military distracts us from facing very real challenges abroad where American leadership is crucial but lacking. As a result, our adversaries are emboldened and our country is less safe. We intend to restore American values and elect a moral leader to the White House. That leader is Joe Biden.”

Veterans and military family members may learn more about NYS Veterans and Military Families for Biden by visiting their Facebook page and joining an organizing group.