 The Cal Thomas Commentary is brought to you by Values Through Media. Now here's syndicated columnist Cal Thomas. Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance has quite a background. Abandoned by his father, an alcoholic mother who was barely able to feed him, he joined the Marines and served four years, including in Iraq. He graduated from Ohio State, then Yale. He started a successful business and wrote the bestseller Hillbilly Elegy, which mirrored his life, became a movie, and connected many people with hard upbringings to him.