The Deployment
David Griffith
Experienced Advisor, Board Chair, and Independent Director to Non-Profit and Family Business Enterprises. Author of The Muddy Boots Blog and avid fly fisherman.
I am stepping away from my usual Muddy Boots format this post. This one is both personal and a collective experience that has occurred to millions of Americans over our history.
Saturday night I had dinner with my brother in law and his daughter. She is a first lieutenant in the United States Army and a member of the 10th Mountain Division and is shipping out for a tour of duty to an undisclosed location in Afghanistan.
I marvel at the young woman and person she has become. Smart, dedicated, and committed to the call of service to her country. An officer responsible for both her actions and those in her unit. Her Aunt and I are proud of her and at the same time, share a concern that is natural when someone you love is being deployed to an active war zone.
I am in awe of the men and women of our armed services. I am grateful for their service and I hope that those who make the decisions to send them in harm's way do so with thought, strategy, an ultimate purpose, and the same pit in my stomach that any parent or family member feels at such a moment. Know we hold our leadership accountable.
So here's to all who serve, and to parents and family who hold them in the light and our hearts, and may you be safe and come home whole in every sense of the word.
Thank you for your service and know we appreciate you, we honor you.
All of you. Past, present, and future.
God speed.
Vice President & Chief Procurement Officer at Drexel University
5 年As the daughter of a 20 year Navy veteran, I thank your niece for her service to our country. Sending prayers and blessings to her and all who serve and have served. ????
Director of Advanced Planning, Registered Representative at Financial Fidelity LLC
5 年I appreciate your comments. As you know I’m a Vietnam Vet Dave, and as I work more with the VFW here in our area (Newtown & Yardley), I realize how few people know a military person or Veteran personally. It’s hard for most to appreciate the courage of these young people and the sacrifice by them and their families. Our Country depends on our Volunteer force, may our citizens always be willing to serve and be rewarded by a grateful nation!
Relationship-builder who matches donors' interests with Stanford GSB's mission
5 年I appreciated your post.? My son, (Westminster class of 2013,) is currently serving as a 2nd Lieutenant in the USMC. (He has not yet deployed.)? ?I echo your sentiments and am proud of your niece and him and grateful for their service, while also share the "natural concerns".? God speed to her.
Cool!
Certified Marshall Goldsmith SCC Leadership Coach
5 年My father (rear), Sgt. Wallace Dix, 10th Mountain Division, European Theatre, 1943-1945. This was taken near Lake Como in Italy right after the end of the war. My father was a forward artillery observer, whose job it was to take a mule laden with a large radio and triangulate the cannons firing on the Germans using a sextant and a book of algoritms, both of which I still have. Salute.?