On Election Day, half the poll workers in my precinct were veterans
Fauquier County, VA – I remember the moment I decided to join the Marine Corps. I was 18 and driving away from the gravesite of my cousin, Devon. He was a Marine killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2005, along with four of his fellow Marines. Because his unit was still in combat, a group of Marines he never met provided military honors to their fallen brother. Their presence at a stranger’s funeral felt extraordinary. I had never seen that kind of committed community.
We talk a lot about veteran and military family patriotism and service. But if you find yourself among veterans this week, notice what they talk about and what they miss. It’s likely a story of their fellow servicemembers. It’s likely a story of community.
I grew up outside a town of 100 people. I still remember the full names of every kid in my high school class, along with most of their parents’ and sibling’s names. Still, after graduating high school I was curious about the world outside my small town. I wanted to visit the cities I saw on the maps, see the art and culture I had read about, and meet people who didn’t look, talk, or pray like I did. When Devon was killed, I was in my first year of college “in the city,” answering that call of curiosity, but I deeply missed my community.
The Marine Corps offered an answer to both my desire to explore the beautiful diversity of my country and the world, and the connectedness that always made me feel at home. So I joined the Marines.
In the Marines, I learned that patriotism is a practice, not just a feeling. It requires committed service, not only to the Constitution, but also to the Marine next to me, to those who came before me, and to those who come after me. INowhere is that more evident than on the Marine Corps’ birthday. Marines don’t celebrate the day as the birthday of an organization; we celebrate it as our collective birthday. We send each other birthday greetings, dress in our sharp uniforms, and celebrate together.
It is fitting that the Marine Corps’ birthday arrives just one day before Veterans Day. For so many veterans, community, service, self, and deep love of country are so intertwined they become virtually indistinguishable. That tightly woven fabric is what makes us so committed to each other in uniform. It’s also what makes veterans so powerful long after we hang up our uniforms. It’s integral to how we show up in the world and in our communities.
This past week, as in prior years, I volunteered to serve as an election official in my community. I arrived before 5am to start a very long day of checking in voters, troubleshooting issues, and celebrating every citizen’s right to vote, the bedrock of our democracy. As I introduced myself to my fellow election officials I noticed a 7th Special Forces Group hat on one of the tables. Another official mentioned his time in the Army; another official shared that she served in the Navy. Half of the election volunteers were veterans.
As the day went on, I noticed something else. The previous times I’d been a poll worker, I was a transplant. First, during college in Chicago and second as a new arrival to Beaufort, SC. I was almost a stranger to the precinct.
But this time I was checking in my neighbors, fellow tee-ball coaches, and my kids’ teachers. I recognized the addresses and some of the last names. This time I wasn’t serving near a military base or college campus, or in a desert halfway around the world. I was serving in my kids’ hometown.
I’ve been a public servant my entire adult life. I’ve sworn an oath to the U.S. Constitution as a Marine, an AmeriCorps member, and a foreign service officer. And I’ve found community in all of those spaces.
Now, out of uniform, I’m finding community, I’m practicing service, and I’m finding my patriotism changing. It’s not weakening or getting smaller, just clearer and more focused. It’s getting local.
I joined the Marine Corps because I wanted to belong to something, because I wanted, on the day of my funeral, for people to feel a duty to honor my life. Now I know that this responsibility works both ways, and it doesn’t extend only to those in uniform.
Veterans Day is about honoring the sacrifices of military members and saying “thank you” to those who felt a call, a responsibility, to our nation.
This year, I call on my fellow veterans to continue that service and to extend that sense of duty locally, down the block or just around the corner.
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At the Chamberlain Network, our mission is to mobilize and empower veterans to protect democracy through organizing, education, and community engagement, ensuring the principles of freedom, social justice, and human rights thrive in a representative democracy. Named after Civil War hero Joshua Chamberlain, the Chamberlain Network seeks to honor his legacy of civic engagement and lifelong commitment to defending democracy that spans long beyond his military service. We build state and local networks of veterans dedicated to promoting democratic values, countering rising authoritarianism, and combating polarization.