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Your Service Was Not in Vain: A Message to OIF and OEF Veterans

President and founder of HSR, Julio Gonzalez offers a message of remembrance and resolve to OIF and OEF veterans: your service was not in vain, and the mission continues at home. Reposted from 2021.

Julio Gonzalez, Major (Retired) USMC

9/17/20262 min read

11 September 2021

Fellow OIF & OEF Veterans:

I know you have struggled watching recent events in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s hard not to think

about the struggles and sacrifices of the past 20 years and wonder “What was it for?” I

understand. I was there with you. Like you, I put in the sweat because I didn’t want to be the guy

that screwed up. Like you, I have friends who didn’t come home with us. Some of our brothers

and sisters won the fight over there, but then lost when the fight came back home with them.

For many of us, a part of us is still over there. Naturally, we want to see a happy conclusion to

the story. We want to be at peace with the outcome of our hard work and the sacrifices of our

friends and families.

You need to know that your service was not in vain. The American public knows that the troops

did everything that was asked of them, and more – through multiple deployments that took a toll

on their health, their personal lives, and their families. No matter what happens in those distant

countries that you served in, don’t forget that the core of the mission was to keep the fight over

there, not over here. You accomplished that. For 20 years, Americans have slept safely under

your watch. No politician, political policy, newspaper, nor naysayer can change that fact.

You have rightfully earned the title of “combat veteran.” Amongst your fellow Americans, there

are few other titles that hold such high esteem. No American will ever ask you “are you a

combat veteran of a war that we won or a war that we lost?” They won’t ask you that because it

doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters to them is that you raised your hand to serve, and

that they live free because you did. No matter what happened in Iraq or Afghanistan after you

left, to the American public, you will always embody the pride that they have for our armed

forces and the hope that our country will prevail in the face of disaster. You served honorably.

Hold your head up high.

For our brothers and sisters who aren’t here with us today, we want to know that their sacrifice

was not in vain. Think back to the day when you last said goodbye to them. If they could speak

to you that day, they would have said “Don’t be sad for me, man… just keep going with the

mission, and remember me when you get back home.” We finished that mission overseas. Now

we have a new mission here at home: to honor their memory. We remind our fellow Americans

about our friends who didn’t come home. We will teach our children that they owe their freedom

to those friends. Just as we were inspired by the courage and the sacrifice of World War II,

Korea, and Vietnam veterans before us, the courage and sacrifice of our friends who didn’t

come home with us will inspire others to answer their country’s call when freedom is under

attack. That is how I know their sacrifice was not in vain, no matter the facts of the ground from

this point forward. Today, if we could speak to them, we would say: “We remember you. We

honor you. Rest easy now – mission accomplished.”

In remembrance,

Julio Gonzalez

President, Head Strong & Ready, 501(c)(3)

Major (Retired), U.S. Marine Corps