The mission of service continues
As a Navy SEAL, I deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq, Southeast Asia and the Horn of Africa. On every tour, I have been humbled to serve with incredible Americans from across our country.
In March 2007, the men with whom I was serving and I were hit by a suicide truck bomb in Fallujah, Iraq. Some of the men who were standing just feet from me that day were casualties and were evacuated all the way home to the United States.
When I returned from that combat deployment, I traveled to Bethesda Naval Hospital to visit wounded Marines. As I walked through the hospital, I asked each one of those men and women what they wanted to do after their recovery. Each one told me that he wanted to continue to serve his country.
Their serious combat injuries might have ended their service in the U.S. military, but they still wanted to continue their service to their fellow Americans. When veterans hang up their uniform for the last time and leave the profession of soldiering to become a civilian again, most still have a desire to serve.
Last week, Congress passed into law the Serve America Act. This piece of bipartisan legislation — originally proposed by Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Edward "Ted" Kennedy, D-Mass., — is a crucial step forward for our nation's service movement. This act will provide for many of our veterans who want to continue their mission of service here at home.
That day in Bethesda, I felt a need to stand with those wounded Marines. They were my inspiration for The Mission Continues, a non-profit organization that I founded to help wounded veterans continue their service by volunteering in their communities.
I am extremely pleased that Congress has seen fit to address this need as well. The Serve America Act will triple the size of AmeriCorps. Along with special corps for clean energy, health care and education, it will create a Veterans Corps as a part of the expansion. This corps will provide opportunities to veterans and military families to continue service to their communities.
This legislation is important for our country and important for Missouri. Last year, I relocated The Mission Continues to my hometown of St. Louis because I know about Missouri's strong tradition of service, both military and civilian.
I encourage all Missourians to support the programs created by the Serve America Act, just as we support our returning veterans. And I hope that each of us will find time to engage in service in our community. Just like the Marines at Bethesda and the more than 100 wounded and disabled veterans whom we have helped to continue serving at home, I know that service to others makes us all stronger.
When our wounded and disabled veterans return, we will tell them thank you for their service, we will welcome them home, and then, because we believe in them, we will challenge them to continue their service to our country. We're stronger because of them. We honor their service when we live their ideals. We can all serve our country.
Eric Greitens is a Parkway North High School graduate. He is a Navy SEAL reserve officer, a Rhodes Scholar, a former White House Fellow and now Chairman/CEO of The Mission Continues (www.missioncontinues.org).
