One reason that we love our jobs is that we get to work with exceptional men and women. It never gets boring. The type of person who does financial planning is usually the type of person who strives to do the right thing. We respect you, our clients, and are honored by the confidence that you place in us. On Veterans Day though, it is our veterans who command our highest level of respect and gratitude.
Privacy concerns prevent me from naming names, but we know who they are. In my experience, they are nothing like the lantern-jawed hulks who appear on Netflix when I am searching for something to watch. Instead, I have found quiet, thoughtful, and modest people who downplay heroic sacrifices. Some have displayed courage on the battlefield while others applied their talents to keeping America safe. All of these men and women put others before themselves.
In his book With the Old Breed, E. B. Sledge describes it this way “Marine corps training taught us to kill efficiently and to try to survive. But it also taught us loyalty to each other—and love.” These are the people who I have come to know and love myself.
I did not serve. I do not know if I would have had the courage and character evinced by so many of you who we are privileged to advise. I do not know if I would voluntarily sacrifice my life and future for the collective benefit of my fellow citizens. I hope that I would, but I can never know.
I do know that our veterans have the respect and gratitude of our entire office. Thank you for everything that you have done.
* E. B. Sledge. With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa (New York: Ballentine, 2007), 344.