Veteran's Day is day for us to honor and thank the men and women of this country who have selflessly served and sacrificed for our freedom. The image above, is of the "Raising Flag on Iwo Jima" a statute, inspired and designed from an extremely popular photo taken by Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945. The statue is of five United States Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman raising the American flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.
It is told that when these five men came back to the U.S. they were honored and praised for their heroin acts, but the soldiers felt anything but heroic, they felt that the fallen soldiers, their comrades were the real heroes because they had given up their lives for their country and for their team. Not all of us are meant to serve our country in the line of fire, but we all have something in us. Something that is innate that we can give; gifts that we can share to make our world a better place.
I have served in the US Army for 8 years and it has been the greatest honor of my life. The valor of those who have served and are currently serving always inspire me to no end.
It was with the same spirit of service that I founded BLEN, Inc. soon after I left the Army. It has been fulfilling to be able to work with other veterans, non-profit organizations and the federal government. It has afforded us to meet great people that are deeply invested to their communities and our country along the way. Being a certified veteran-owned business also gave us great opportunities to support the U.S. Government with our talents.
So, this Veteran's day, take the time out to remember those who have given so much and have been so courageous in serving this great nation of ours, but also take time to think about how you can serve the United States of America, in ways that only you can!