What Veterans Day means to our veterans

As with everything else, honoring veterans on this year’s Veterans Day looks a lot different.

Over the years, you've likely grown accustomed to seeing the small flags line the walkways at our Minneapolis-St. Paul campus. Together, we normally gather for the flag-raising ceremony in the (usually freezing) cold, while the colors were presented, National Anthem sang, TAPS played, and a service member shared their story. Followed up with donuts and hot coffee.

Yes. This year looks different.

While we cannot join each other for the ceremony, we want to share what Veterans Day means to our Thomson Reuters Veterans and we invite you to share what it means to you. 

Jordan Schuetzle – Major in the United States Army, serving as a Judge Advocate General

“I am a Major in the United States Army, serving as a Judge Advocate General. This year Veterans Day has a slightly new meaning to me as I think about the domestic role that my fellow guardsmen and women have taken on as we fight an invisible enemy in COVID-19.  These Soldiers are once again placing their lives on the line for the greater collective good: testing and tracing to prevent the spread of the virus to others.  It wasn’t the mission they signed up for, nor the mission they trained for, but it is the one that was handed to them, and they are carrying it out without question. I appreciate the medical professionals who are making similar sacrifices in the same way.”

Katie Radford – Served as an Air Transportation Specialist with the 133 Airlift Wing.

“I served from 12/23/2003 - 12/23/2009 as Air Transportation Specialist with the 133 Airlift Wing in St. Paul, and I was deployed to Iraq in 2006. For me, Veterans Day is an opportunity to not only reflect on my service, sacrifice, and experiences, but also others'; everyone who served before, with, and after me. It's a day where I am filled with gratitude, thinking about my friends who are still actively serving. I think about the amount of nights/weeks/months/years they have spent and continue to spend away from their families, friends, and jobs to plan, train, deploy. What makes Veterans Day special for me, though, is the camaraderie, where there is a silent connection between me and a complete stranger who has served.” 

Michael Berg – Served as a member of the Air Force Security Police.

“I was stationed at Grand Forks AFB. I served as a member of the Air Force Security Police. I successfully performed aircraft and nuclear weapons security, along with law enforcement duties. I served in Cuba during Operation Sea Signal and Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm/Southern Watch. As a young father and Air Force veteran, I was trying to think of ways to instill the importance of Veterans Day with my children so that they always remembered the sacrifices, not only by our family members but by our country. Every Veterans Day we would discuss family members who served and what impact their sacrifice made on the family. We would sit down and watch a different movie focused on veterans and talk about what type of commitment and love for your country it takes to endure the different situations that these individuals went through. Movies like The Thin Red Line, Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, and We Were Soldiers were some of our favorites that displayed the trials and tribulations of our veterans. My children are older now and living on their own, but they still call every Veterans Day to discuss veterans and let me know what they will do to remember our veterans this year. I hope this tradition will continue for generations, so those who served and sacrificed will never be forgotten.”

Want to learn more about our Veterans Network and our other business resource groups?

Read more about Serving Those Who’ve Served, as well as our 7 other employee-driven business resource groups that foster diversity and inclusion at Thomson Reuters.