Veteran's Day Message

I wanted to write an article about something that has hit me like a ton of bricks within the last couple of years. I have been in the IT industry for over twenty years and have known or worked with many people across many companies. I can think about my career and know people who have been taken from this world due to horrible sickness and a small handful who have chosen to leave this world of their own volition. This information is an awful reality of life whether or not we want to believe this fact.?

I was an active duty US Marine for "only" five years. Anyone who knows or has met me knows that being a Marine has had a fantastic effect on my life. Just ask me, and I will tell you. A couple of years ago, I was with a group of about ten Marines that I either served with or they joined the unit as I was leaving my time on active duty. This group knew many of the same people due to our overlapping time in the Marine Corps. At some point in the evening, we started going over the names of people in our unit who had passed away since our time in the Corps. It was a SHOCKING number of people when you think that most of the names were people who had died in their twenties or thirties. Many of these Marines passed away after their time in service due to suicide, drugs, drinking, or car accidents, along with a couple that had some sickness or other health issues. My time in the US Marine Corps was short, but I was shocked by the overall number of my fellow Marines who had died young. I finally had to admit that there was more to this than "bad luck" or "bad choices." While I never doubted that people were affected by PTSD, I always figured it was for others. I have finally realized that many Veterans and Active Duty service members are affected and might not even realize the depth of those effects.?

This post is not my typical LinkedIn posting. Usually, I share things I find interesting that are typically security related, sharing some of the great work my team has done or I am doing some shameless self-promotion. This is not that type of a share, and I am not doing it for views. I wanted to share this for two reasons. First, ask people to reach out to a Veteran or service member today and check in with how they are doing. Many past and present Military are dealing with survivor's guilt or other issues they might be masking, and a quick reach out could make all the difference in the world. The second reason for sharing is a way to hold myself accountable. It's "easy" to post something like this on social media and move on. This upcoming calendar year, I want to challenge myself to get more involved with helping Veterans somehow.

For any fellow Marines reading this post, Semper Fi. For all Veterans or Active Duty service members, please take a minute to reach out to one of your crew and berate them in a way that only other Veterans or service members realize is our best way to show appreciation for one another. Now please hand me a crayon.

?#SemperFi