“We want them to come home and be OK.” Gary Sinise with some powerful words about our veterans as we celebrate their service today.

I must admit as both a current diplomat and veteran that I think the service of foreign service officers, peace corps members and those working in the field for USAID is very undervalued and definitely not celebrated nearly enough.

I find many similarities between my military service and my foreign service. Being away from family and friends is definitely the one felt most.

Paktika province, Afghanistan in 2008. It may be my favorite photo from my deployment because while it was a tough experience, I still found time to smile.

I decided to sit down and put a video together today of my thoughts on military service and its impact on veterans of my generation. I also give some tips in trying stay physically, mentally and emotionally fit.

Foreign service life wise I recently went to Oktoberfest in Blumenau which was a blast. Some videos and pics below. I have trip coming up to Buenos Aries, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay. Will do a post about that once I get back.


Happy Veteran’s Day everyone. Hope all is well with you.

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