Today’s Featured Article is written by Richard D. Stafford, Ph.D.
I recently had the opportunity to re-connect with a very bright student I taught over 32 years ago. He was a sophomore, a Latino, and a young man who had mentioned to me that he wanted to drop out of high school. I was surprised because he was very smart, focused and well-liked by teachers and his peers. I had thought that Eric would be the last person not to complete high school.
The following summer before his junior year, his family moved away to a small town near San Antonio, Texas. Ironically, the principal for whom I taught, also moved away that summer, to near San Antonio and in fact, to the exact school where my former student had re-enrolled as a junior. What a coincidence! As the fall semester began, my former student was surprised to learn that his new high school principal was going to be his former principal. Despite the principal’s efforts to keep Eric in high school, the youngster dropped out and joined the Marines. The principal wrote a letter of recommendation that helped Eric secure an important position in the service. I never would have guessed that Eric would have selected that journey, and today, find it hard to believe where it has led him.
Last week, while visiting the small community, I learned the rest of the story, as national radio commentator Paul Harvey might have said. It seems Eric’s service in the Marines included heroism, being a member of a top level security squad and part of a command not unlike Special Ops. He had a distinguished career in the Marines. But the story does not end there.
The past decade or so, Eric has been a private contractor for the US Government. He has protected the top leaders of the Senate, the House and even the Executive Branch. He worked much of the last decade doing this semi-secret work in Iraq and Afghanistan. The last two years he has assumed a security leadership position in Israel on behalf of the US Government, protecting American citizens and government officials, including the Secretary of State most recently.
Now, this is not a political devotion, or even patriotic story. But it is a story of fate and faith and believing you can make a difference in a world that is so often torn by war and battles. I am proud that Eric grew up to be a father, a husband, a Marine, and a man who risks his life daily, year after year, keeping negotiators, who are attempting to make the world a better place…safe.
God can point us toward great journeys, but we have to be curious, brave, risk much, and be willing to serve others along the way. Thanks Eric!
Psalm 139:9-10 “If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me; your right hand will hold me fast.”
Richard D Stafford, Ph.D.
