Second, here’s a reminder to hiring managers everywhere to hire veterans. Why? Veterans are resilient, they know how to persevere, they understand collaboration and teamwork, they’ve acquired valuable skills from one of the best training and human development organizations on the planet.

What was different this time is how struck I was by the meaningfulness of the military honors ceremony. Ray served his country dutifully in the 1950s. Seventy years later, a corps of individuals—most of whom are retired and likely did not know Ray personally—dedicated their morning to seeing Ray off with a fitting salute. Wow.