Day 264: Talk about a mission!
Posted by Kelli Joan Bennett
Day 264. I was forwarded this article’s link because it was written by a former president of the organization my documentary is on. This young man had just graduated from high school the year we started shooting. What I didn’t know was that he immediately went into the marines. His piece is all about his next mission—going to college—after he returned from a four year stint of active duty in Afghanistan in 2011. It reminds me not only how precious life is but also how lucky I am that I have the men and women of our armed forces doing my freedom fighting for me. I’m feeling incredibly thankful and lucky this morning that I can pursue my own missions.
Here’s the piece from the NY Times website’s “At War”:
“For a Student Veteran, Graduation Is the Next Mission” by Thomas Gibbons-Neff:
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/18/for-a-student-veteran-graduation-is-the-next-mission/
Until tomorrow, create from what you have…the freedom to be on your own personal mission.
What an incredibly inspiring commentary from an incredibly heroic young man! And, to add to his story this was added in comment to his article:
“What Thomas Gibbons-Neff didn’t write, was that while he was in school at Georgetown, he visited a marine teammate who also returned from Afghanistan and now was recovering in Walter Reed hospital. He visited him nearly every day for months, after attending classes and then returning to do his homework for the next day.
Another role model set of behavors of a real leader for his generation.”
Thank you for your wonderful comment, Cindy! I’m so glad you are a part of the conversation. 🙂