Samantha Collier of Merrimack, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, shares her military experience during the town hall meeting on Aug. 27 hosted by Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Karishma Manzur. Cabinet photo by CHRISTOPHER ROBERSON

MERRIMACK – Rather than sharing her own views on the U.S. Military, Karishma Manzur, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, recently hosted a town hall to hear the perspectives of local veterans and members of Veterans For Peace.

During the Aug. 27 meeting, Marine veteran Brian McGinnis said residents need to be more knowledgeable about international relations and what is happening with America’s military.

“Our foreign policy was written by Israel,” he said. “All the negatives have been on our dime.”

He also said veteran care has been lacking across the Granite State as there is only one veteran hospital.

“The (Department of Veterans Affairs) deserves a lot more funding,” said McGinnis.

Dr. Christopher Calhoun of Goffstown, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, shares his military experience during the town hall meeting on Aug. 27 hosted by Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Karishma Manzur. Cabinet photo by CHRISTOPHER ROBERSON

$6.7 million was allocated for veterans services, according to the state’s biennial budget for fiscal years 2026-2027.

During his service as a light armored vehicle crewman, McGinnis took part in the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003. At the time, he was fresh out of high school and did not think about the reasoning behind the invasion. Years later, he had time to reflect.

“The Iraq War never manifested into anything,” he said. “I feel exploited, I feel used.”

After being honorably discharged in 2007, it did not take long for him to discover he was a changed man.

“I was mentally different than the people around me,” said McGinnis, adding that he has utilized VA services to help with anger management.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Karishma Manzur listens to veterans during her town hall meeting in Merrimack on Aug. 27. Cabinet photo by CHRISTOPHER ROBERSON

Dr. Christopher Calhoun of Goffstown served in the Navy for 25 years and was deployed in the Persian Gulf in 1991 and 1994. He was also deployed as a Navy physician in 2001 and 2012.

“I’d like to see some respect for the military,” he said. “We’re not getting that at all from the Executive Branch, it’s not all about the guy in charge.”

Calhoun recalled witnessing the liberation of Kuwait during his first deployment in the Middle East.

“I came home feeling like we did something, that it was the right thing to do,” he said.

However, he could not say the same for the current conflict with Iran.

Brian McGinnis, a veteran of the U.S. Marines, shares his military experience during the town hall meeting on Aug. 27 hosted by Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Karishma Manzur. Cabinet photo by CHRISTOPHER ROBERSON

“Now we’re not even pretending to have justification for what we’re doing,” he said, adding that soldiers will likely face significant mental obstacles when they come home. “The value of the mission has a lot to do with how people come out psychologically.”

Samantha Collier of Merrimack served in the Navy as a petty officer second class and her husband was a lance corporal in the Marines.

Collier said returning to civilian life was like “ripping off a Band-Aid and letting it bleed.”

“I deal with a lot of things with sarcasm and dark humor,” she said.

Collier also said military compensation left much to be desired. Despite their ranks, she and her husband found themselves eligible for the federal Women, Infants and Children program.

Manzur agreed that work must be done to elevate military pay.

“The compensation is terrible, even though we’re spending $1 trillion on the military,” she said.

According to the University of New Hampshire, Manzur trails Congressman Chris Pappas (D-NH) by 17 percent going into the Sept. 8 primary election.