Folly #6: On This Day Especially

Thankful to those who serve.

I’d never thought much about the fact that no one in my family served in the military. Dad’s asthma kept him from enlisting. I’m an only child and so are both my parents; we’re a small family of civilians. It didn’t feel like I had any personal connection.

And then I began working with The War Horse, a really remarkable nonprofit focused on military news and government transparency. Part of their model is a Writer’s Program that brings a cohort together over a shared military experience (Gold Star children who’ve lost a parent in service, military spouses, Black veterans) to lift their voices as part of career journeys to becoming authors, reporters, filmmakers and spokespersons.

The War Horse is very personal. Founded by a Marine who was medically retired after surviving an explosion during service, Thomas Brennan overcame his depression and thoughts of suicide by writing. Their core group of three includes a managing editor who is the only woman to have served and returned to action as a journalist, and the spouse of a Marine Aviator whose career has too often been reinvented with each deployment.

They are young. (Or I am old. Or both.) I’ve spent nearly all of my career in nonprofit fundraising and have never met a group of people so determined to get it right. Not just in their programs, but in the integrity of what they write and, especially, in their nonprofit operations. The COO (you guessed it – one of the core team of three) has an unwavering attention to detail and aspiration to achieve best practices.

Remember Marines United, the secret, private Facebook group with photos of naked female Marines? The War Horse’s 2017 exclusive investigation revealed this pandemic online sexual harassment, and led to significant policy changes that protect women in the military. As a result of their work, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill to criminalize the sharing of non-consensual images.

The team’s now-familiar banter during meetings has educated me about things like an Alive Day. That’s the day you nearly died in service, but managed to survive (and a well deserved day off for employees of The War Horse). Or River City, which is a complete communications lockdown after a fatal accident until the family can be notified. (Meaning: you know someone is dead in the battalion, but don’t know if it’s your loved one. Terrifying.) Or not to wish someone in uniform a “Happy Memorial Day,” because there’s nothing to celebrate about a day honoring service members who died.

Saying military service isn’t personal is a bit like thinking, “I’m white so I don’t have a race.” As a civilian, I’m part of a majority culture that benefits from the efforts of others.

Today is Veterans Day. On this day, especially, I honor and thank those who serve, so that I may live in a country where I can speak my beliefs. 

I’ll be back at it next week, delving into the funding folly of squeezing national impact into local giving models. That makes it hard to raise money for organizations doing incredible work across geographies, like The War Horse.

Next week… Folly Take 7: It’s All Local.