{"id":34645,"date":"2023-11-07T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=34645"},"modified":"2023-11-09T06:52:39","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T06:52:39","slug":"sowing-seeds-of-service-starts-with-vets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=34645","title":{"rendered":"Sowing seeds of service starts with vets"},"content":{"rendered":"

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Alabama \u2014The excitement was almost electric when I dropped my kids off at school this morning. You could feel the energy pulsing in the halls and the current of conversation was all about the day\u2019s big event: the Veterans Day program.<\/p>\n

As I sat and sipped my coffee waiting for my husband to arrive, I reflected on the morning\u2019s progress so far. My usual challenge of rousing my girls was effortless \u2013 they were up and fully dressed before I was \u2013 and all because their Soldier dad was coming to school for Veterans Day. It was, apparently, a VERY big deal.<\/p>\n

As I observed and listened to the hallway chatter, I heard snippets of conversation. \u201cMy mom is a veteran \u2013 she\u2019s coming!\u201d \u201cMy grandpa is a veteran \u2013 he\u2019s coming!\u201d These were endearing to hear, but not surprising. It\u2019s totally natural for immediate relatives to come and support their kids\u2019 and grandkids\u2019 school events.<\/p>\n

What did surprise me, however, were those with no familial relation showing up as a guest of a student, or as a supporter of the school. As the program commenced, students and their veterans were announced and then walked under the sabers of an honor guard, getting the full VIP treatment for all in attendance to recognize.<\/p>\n

Some who came with the students were announced as friends of the family, others as neighbors. Some of the older veterans who were invited by the school to participate were solo and announced as friends of the school.<\/p>\n

Every single one of them was treated like a rock star and cheered by a gym full of pre-kindergarteners to eighth graders. Every. Single. One.<\/p>\n

It struck me, as I looked around at little hands waving clutched American flags that, as military families, we often take for granted that everyone has a veteran in their lives. That everyone has someone to set the example of selfless service for them. That everyone has someone who took an oath to protect and defend our nation.<\/p>\n

We forget that many of those little flag-waving hands, cheering at the events, want to have a veteran, too. They want to have a special person on Veterans Day to stand proudly next to and declare to the world, \u201cThis is MY veteran!\u201d<\/p>\n

When you look at the statistics of people who have served in uniform, it\u2019s an astonishingly small number when compared to the rest of the population. And it\u2019s getting smaller by the minute.<\/p>\n

Whether through the passing on of those who served in prior wars, or simply the lack of those currently enlisting or commissioning, our supply of veterans is dwindling. And friends, that simply is \u201cunsat\u201d (to employ a phrase often used by veterans when the situation isn\u2019t satisfactory).<\/p>\n

So, for those veterans still hearing a call to duty, here is a challenge to you: find a young person who may not have a veteran in their life and be THEIR veteran.<\/p>\n

It might be a neighbor, it might be the child of a co-worker, it might be someone you already mentor. Talk to them about your service. Let them know you care about them, and their Veterans Day activities at school.<\/p>\n

Be the one to teach them about the importance of selfless service, duty and honor. Be the one who inspires their own service to their community.<\/p>\n

Be the one to teach them to be all they can be.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an investment worth your time. Your military leadership and mentorship experience could be the key to their success. Being THEIR veteran could have far-reaching impacts for our nation that you can\u2019t even begin to imagine.<\/p>\n

Just take the first step, sow the seeds of service, sit back and watch them grow.<\/p>\n

Who knows?<\/p>\n

You might just grow a Soldier.<\/p>\n

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\n Veterans bring to the table military leadership and mentorship experience that could be the key to a kid’s success. Find opportunities to be a mentor in your community.
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\n Military families often take for granted that everyone has a veteran in their lives. Our daughters were thrilled to have their veteran (and dad), Col. Todd Burnley, at the school event to walk under the saber arch with them.
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\n The military leadership and mentorship experience veterans bring to the table could be the key to a kid’s success. Being “their” veteran on days like Veterans Day could have positive and lasting impacts on their future.
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REDSTONE ARSENAL, Alabama \u2014The excitement was almost electric when I dropped my kids off at school this morning. You could feel the energy pulsing in the halls and the current of conversation was all about the day\u2019s big event: the Veterans Day program. As I sat and sipped my coffee waiting for my husband to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34647,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34645"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34651,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34645\/revisions\/34651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}