Reflections on being a Veteran

November 11, 2022

As fall begins to drift slowly into winter, we find ourselves once again celebrating Veterans Day. Veterans Day is built from a long history of national recognition of those citizens who took a path intended to defend the freedoms afforded by our constitution and the communities we call home, that when woven together make up this amazing nation.

Veterans are living on your streets and in your buildings. They work beside you here at Deloitte and number well into the thousands. We are as diverse as this nation and always stop to talk about our service and hopefully create a connection between a former servicemember and a Deloitte ally.

I joined the Army because my father did. I was the fourth generation of my family to serve and felt immense pride the day I took an oath as an Army Officer, an oath given by my dad just moments after graduating from college. For many years, when asked why I was in the service, I pointed to my family’s legacy. Later in my career, I was sent to Iraq where the answer changed. While I served overseas with an amazing, varied group of citizens, we could be described on many days as exhausted, disheveled, lonely, scared, and a little lost in thoughts of home. On one such day, I flippantly asked out loud with a dry smile, “what am I doing here?” My boss, without pause, simply said, “we are here for the same reason… because someone has to be… and it’s our turn.” The Veterans around you at some point volunteered because it was needed, and they felt it was their turn. In a time when we can feel divided, remember, this is a network that made a choice with no other objective but to serve the common good, so others would not have to. That, I hope, is worth a handshake, an introduction, and a moment to reflect on how we can try to move to a common voice.

Lastly, we should be proud of who this Deloitte is for Veterans. We sponsor organizations supporting wounded Veterans, hire transitioning Veterans in every business, and celebrate the Veteran network as a feather in our diversity, equity, and inclusion cap. I’ve been lucky to support our Veteran efforts for 12 years at Deloitte. I can say that for our amazing commercial success, our work with Servicemembers is, by far, the area of which I am most proud. Happy Veterans Day.