Every year at this time, I take advantage of Musings from the Mezzanine to share with you some of the things for which I am thankful. In my 2020 blog, I reflected on how far we’ve come together since I joined the NLM in 2016. In my 2019 blog, I mused about the people, professionals, and personnel for whom I give thanks. This year, I want to give thanks for all veterans in the United States, but particularly for those NLM staff members who are also veterans.
There’s an official legal definition of a veteran – according to Title 38 United States Code, a veteran is a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service, and who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable. Also included as veterans under certain circumstances are National Guard members and members of the uniformed services such as the Public Health Service.
I come from a strong veteran family – my dad, my uncles Bill and Ed (who were military chaplains in WWII and Vietnam, respectively), my cousin Joey, and my nephew Chris.
At NLM, we are fortunate to count many veterans among our numbers. Some of our staff are not only veterans of active-duty service, but they also continue to serve through the reserves or through membership in the National Guard.
It’s good for NLM to have veterans among our workforce. Veterans bring well-developed skills that can effectively be applied to our operations and research enterprise. While each veteran is unique, and entered uniformed service for very personal reasons, veterans bring a commitment to the country refined through their assignments. And veterans strengthen NLM’s commitment to serve the public through government service.
I think that working at NLM is also good for our veterans. NLM allows them to continue in public service and provides them with a world class enterprise environment that makes effective use of their talents and skills honed through previous service. And working at NLM enjoins the efforts of these veterans with the remaining 1,600 plus people who work every day to bring information to the public, make genomic information safely and securely available for science and public health, and help reach communities across the country with trusted health information.
I am pleased and proud to honor these select members of our outstanding workforce. Thank you for your military service and thank you for your continued service at NLM!
A salute to all at NLM.
Thank you!