Sgt. Brandon Camacho is Kilili’s guest during State of the Union day in Washington

Washington, DC — Staff Sgt. Brandon Camacho was the guest of U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan today in Washington. Sgt. Camacho has been awarded the Purple Heart five times and served three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In addition to attending President Obama’s State of the Union address in the House of Representatives, Camacho accompanied Kilili throughout much of the work day on Capitol Hill. The two met with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar at a meeting of the Congressional Asian and Pacific American Caucus, of which Kilili is a member. Sablan also introduced Sgt. Camacho to Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO), who is the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

“It was my honor to introduce Staff Sgt. Brandon Camacho to leaders here in Congress,” said Kilili. “Sgt. Camacho is someone who all of us in the Northern Mariana Islands can be very proud to call one of our own.”

Brandon Camacho was born on Saipan, the son of the late Vicente “Pakitu” Cabrera Camacho and Cindy Bower. He left the islands at the age of fifteen and enlisted in the U.S. Army at eighteen.

Recently elected Congressman Bill Owens (D), who represent the upstate New York district where Fort Drum, Camacho’s current duty station, drop in Kilili’s office to have his picture taken with the Sergeant. Owens also was treated to the apigigi Kilili keeps on hand for guests.

Earlier in the day Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), too, had his photo taken with Camacho for publication in papers in North Carolina, where the Sergeant’s mother and sister now reside.