Yesterday we received this message from Greg Parde of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. “I love your blog and check it almost every day,” Mr. Parde. wrote, which I appreciated, but this is what got my attention: “I would like to share what my employer did for Veterans’ Day.” Mr. Parde wrote:
Each month we have a recognition meeting for about an hour. The honors typically include the equivalent of “employee of the month” or “going the extra mile,” training received, and anniversary dates reached. At the beginning of October I suggested to our owner that we should schedule November’s meeting for Veterans’ Day and have the company’s vets come up and tell which branch of the service they were in.
WHAT WE DID: Our owner presented each man a certificate that noted his branch and years of military service. I don’t have the exact text the certificates had, but the wording was pitch-perfect. Each man told a little about his experience. It turns out I get to work alongside five veterans.
WHAT THEY SAID: My boss did a long stint in the Navy and Naval Reserves starting in 1974. One of my colleagues, a commercial service technician, was in the Marine Corps from 1970 to 1973. They both said it was the first time in more than 30 years they had been recognized. That shocked me.
ABOUT OUR COMPANY: Custom Heating and Air has 35 employees, which makes it one of the largest HVAC companies in the greater Tulsa area. We have been in business for 31 years.
ABOUT MYSELF: I am a journeyman HVAC service technician. Custom is my first and only HVAC employer. I have been with them 17 months.
CONCLUSION: Most companies probably work on Veterans’ Day and have some sort of periodic meetings with the employees. Why couldn’t they start a private-sector trend by trying to schedule their November meetings around honoring the veterans? Our owner was an Army brat who spent his early childhood in Germany. He couldn’t believe that neither he nor anyone else had thought of this before.
Whatever you may think of my little message, please keep up your excellent work. This is one of the most incisive conservative blogs around.
And Happy Veterans’ Day to all our nation’s vets!
I enjoyed this message and thought you might too, even if you see it a day late.
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