My Veterans Day Remarks Today, Johns Creek VA, Newtown Park

Sorry for the cap, but this was a speech and is my style on game day.

GOOD MORNING.  TODAY, NOV 9TH, IS A VERY IMPORTANT DAY IN US HISTORY.  PART OF A CRUCIAL TRIFECTA… THE 9TH, 10TH, AND 11TH.  NOVEMBER 9TH, 1989, THE BERLIN WALL FELL.  A HISTORIC DAY NOT JUST FOR THE US AND EUROPE, BUT FOR ALL HUMANITY.

AND THE 10TH OF NOVEMBER?  HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS, LOOKING GOOD AFTER 249 YEARS YOUNG.

AND OF COURSE THE 11TH, THE 11TH HOUR OF THE 11TH DAY OF THE 11TH MONTH OF 1918, THE GREAT ARMISTICE, AND THE END OF THE WAR TO END ALL WARS.

INTERESTING HOW THAT WORKED OUT.  HAPPY VETERANS DAY.

MY NAME IS KEVIN HORGAN, AS YOU COULD GUESS A FORMER MARINE. I SERVED AS AN INFANTRY OFFICER OORAH FROM 1979 TO ’84.  I DEPLOYED, BUT WAS NEVER SHOT AT, WAS NEVER DOWNRANGE.  I THOUGHT I WAS HOT STUFF, BUT I WAS NOTHING SPECIAL.  YET I MUST TELL YOU THAT BEING AN OFFICER OF MARINES HAS BEEN THE GREAT PRIVILEGE OF MY LIFE.

I REPRESENT TODAY A GROUP CALLED VETLANTA.  WE ARE A NETWORKING AND REFERRAL CLUB.  WE ACCEPT NO MONEY, ARE APOLITICIAL, AND OUR STOCK IN TRADE IS HOLDING QUARTERLY SUMMITS, NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES FOR VETERANS AND ALLIES TO MEET AND GREET AND EXCHANGE BUSINESS AND PERSONAL CONTACT INFORMATION, LOOKING FOR THE TRANSITIONING VETERAN, WHETHER HE OR SHE SERVED 3 OR 30 YEARS, TO FIND THE RIGHT FIT AND MAKE ATLANTA VETERAN CITY.

IF YOU REMEMBER NOTHING ELSE FROM MY REMARKS, PLEASE REMEMBER OUR WEBSITE VETLANTA.ORG. VETLANTA.ORG.  OUR NEXT SUMMIT, FREE FOR VENDORS AND PARTICIPANTS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC WHETHER YOU ARE HIRING OR LOOKING FOR WORK, AND ALL POINTS IN BETWEEN, WILL BE HELD DECEMBER 4TH AT THE HOME DEPOT CORPORATE HQ JUST DOWN THE ROAD.

PLEASE GO TO THE WEBSITE AND REGISTER ASAP.  VETLANTA.ORG

AH, WE DO LIVE IN CONTENTIOUS TIMES.  NOT MUCH OF IT VERY GOOD.  BUT I AM REMINDED OF THE WORDS OF THE LATE GREAT AMERICAN PHILOSOPHER, RODNEY DANGERFIELD.

RODNEY HAD A ZINGER THAT HE HAD NOT SPOKEN TO HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW IN ALMOST TWO YEARS… BECAUSE HE DID NOT WANT TO INTERRUPT HER.

WHATEVER YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR MOTHER-IN-LAW, AND FOR ME IT WAS MOSTLY WONDERFUL THOUGH SOMETIMES TRYING, I NEEDED TO REMIND MYSELF THAT WE BOTH LOVED THE SAME PERSON MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD. WE BOTH WOULD, ON OUR OWN TERMS, KILL OR DIE FOR THAT PERSON.

SO WHETHER BLUE OR RED, WE SHARE A LOVE FOR THIS NATION, OUR FLAG, AND WE SHOULD ALWAYS KEEP THAT IN MIND.

WE KNOW THAT OUR DUTY AS CITIZENS DOES NOT BEGIN, OR END, IN THE VOTING BOOTH.

THIS CONTENTION HURTS RECRUITING IN GENERAL – THERE IS A CRISIS IN RECRUITMENT NOW, AND SADLY GOALS ARE NOT BEING MET.  FEAR OF INJURY IS THE MOST FREQUENT REASON GIVEN, BUT IT IS A LITTLE MORE THAN THAT.

WE ARE NOT RECRUITING AT THE KITCHEN TABLE LIKE WE USED TO.  WE LET THE NEWS CYCLE CONTROL THE NARRATIVE.  SCHOOLS TEACH GUILT INSTEAD OF PRIDE, IDEOLOGY INSTEAD OF IDEALS.

THE VETERANS HERE TODAY KNOW THAT IDEOLOGIES DON’T CONTROL THE URGE, THE DRIVE, TO SERVE OUR NATION, TO TAKE THE RISK… LET’S FACE IT, THE AGE GROUP 18 TO 25 REALLY SHOULD BELIEVE THEY’LL LIVE FOREVER.

IT’S NOT ABOUT SPEECHES.  THE MEN OF D DAY WERE TOLD WHAT TO DO.  THEY TRAINED FOR IT.  THEY DIDN’T GET LECTURED ON THE NEED TO STOP THE NAZI HORDE, OR PROTECT WESTERN CIVILIZATION, OR KILL HITLER FOR FREEDOM.

SOME SERGEANT OR CHIEF PETTY OFFICER TOLD THEM TO “GET IN THE BOAT.”  SO THEY DID, MANY TO A TERRIFYING END.  BUT THEY DID IT. AND ALL OF US LIKE TO BELIEVE THAT WE WOULD HAVE ALSO.

AND ALL THAT STARTED AT THE KITCHEN TABLE… THE TALK ABOPUT DUTY.

GOD FAMILY COUNTRY CORPS.

ONLY TWO PERCENT OF VETERANS SEE COMBAT.  MOST OF US DON’T, BUT WE FULFILLED MILTON’S AXIOM THAT “HE ALSO SERVES WHO ONLY STANDS AND WAITS.”

WHAT IS IT THAT SEPARATES THE VETERAN FROM HIS NEIGHBOR?

THERE WAS A FILM 20 YEARS AGO, RELEASED COINCIDENTLY AFTER 9/11, BLACK HAWK DOWN… ABOUT AN ABORTED RAID IN MOGADISHU, SOMALIA, THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ROUTINE, AND IT TURNED INTO A NIGHTMARE.

IN THE MOVIE THE LATE ACTOR TOM SIZEMORE, WHO FREQUENTLY PLAYED A FLAKY DUDE BUT DID MILITARY ROLES QUITE WELL, FROM CORPORALS TO COLONELS, AND IN THIS TREMENDOUS FILM, HE PORTRAYS A COLONEL OF AN UNDERSIZED COMPANY ON THE GROUND, OUTGUNNED 100 TO ONE, AND HE COOLY GIVES ORDERS WHILE EVERYTHING IS GOING SOUTH VERY QUICKLY.

THE COLONEL AND A SOLDIER ARE STANDING NEXT TO A TRUCK.  SIZEMORE TELLS THE SOLDIER, “GET IN AND DRIVE.”

THE SOLDIER SAYS, “BUT BUT I’M SHOT!

THE COLONEL SAYS, “EVERYBODY’S SHOT.  GET IN AND DRIVE.”

SO THE SOLDIER DOES JUST THAT.

PEOPLE HIRE VETS TODAY BECAUSE WE TAKE INITIATIVE IN THE ABSENCE OF DIRECTION. WE CAN DISCERN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAJOR AND MINOR – BUT THE SOLDIER IN THIS CASE LET HIS TRAINING AND HIS COLONEL’S GOOD JUDGMENT PREVAIL.

HE DID WHAT HE WAS TOLD, EVEN THOUGH HIS INSTINCTS WERE HE COULD NOT.

NO MATTER THE BURDEN, THE VETERAN WILL DO HIS OR HER JOB WITHOUT MAKING EXCUSES.

WE ALL HAVE PROBLEMS… EVERYBODY IS SHOT.  BUT WE RISE TO THE OCCASION TO DO THE JOB ANYWAY.

GOD FAMILY COUNTRY CORPS.

I HAVE A REQUEST.  KEEP RECRUITING.  BY YOUR EXAMPLE, YOUR GOOD HUMOR, YOUR FIRM HANDSHAKE, AND MAYBE A WHOPPER OR TWO ABOUT HOW MUCH FUN BOOTCAMP WAS.  KEEP RECRUITING.

THANK YOU FOR LOVING YOUR MOTHER-IN-LAW AND OUR FLAG.

THANK YOU FOR GETTING BEHIND THE WHEEL… AND DRIVING EVEN THOUGH YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE SHOT.

THANK YOU FOR RAISING YOUR HAND, TAKING THE OATH, AND STANDING… AND WAITING.

AND THANK YOU FOR GETTING IN THE BOAT!      SEMPER FI