Perspective

We the people

Twenty-sixth Amendment: The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of age."

By CHRIS ZUPPA, Times Staff Photographer
Published November 4, 2007

To the Pinellas Park Thunderbirds, he's coach Mike. The guy who tells the players to pay attention during football practice, congratulates them when they play well, gives pep talks at halftime. But there's more to know about this young man who was born and raised in Pinellas Park. He started playing football at age 7. His buddies nicknamed him Chicken Wing because he devoured them after fasting for every Saturday weigh-in. Chicken Wing continued to play at Pinellas Park High School as defensive end. Unable to afford college and unsure what career to pursue, he joined the U.S. MarineCorps and shipped off to boot camp at South Carolina's Parris Island. His first tour was in Afghanistan. There was no running water, only the stink of open sewage and winter's chill. While stationed there, he voted by absentee ballot in the 2004 presidential election. He was 19. His second tour was in Iraq, where a sniper's bullet shattered several of his vertebrae and pierced a lung. On this humid October Saturday, Mike DeLancey pauses for the national anthem before a game in Tarpon Springs. Now 22, he attends St. Petersburg College and plans to vote in the next presidential election. "It doesn't make a big difference," DeLancey said of his vote. "But a bunch of small differences makes a big difference." He added, "If you're not going to vote, I'm not going to pressure (you). It's something on you."

[Last modified November 5, 2007, 07:51:05]