John, 

The last thing I wanted at age thirteen was to be sent off to military school.

Little did I know that it would change the trajectory of my life and still shape who I am today over three decades later.

As a troubled kid in The Bronx, I first felt handcuffs on my wrists when I was eleven years old. I was on academic and disciplinary probation, so my mom made the difficult decision to send me to Valley Forge Military Academy.

The transition was hard. I tried to run away at first, but at the end of my first year, I realized that I was growing up. I realized that the structure was something that I’d never found before. Finally, I felt like I was part of something bigger, part of a team, and it actually mattered to people that I was there.

When it was time to think about what was next after high school, the people that I admired most in my life happened to be in uniform. So for me, the answer was clear. I would train to become an Army officer.

I didn’t join the Army because I wanted to go to war. I didn’t join the Army because I had a lust or a need to go overseas and fight.

I joined the Army because I was inspired by my mentors in military school, because I felt that patriotic call to serve that so many young people feel.

By the time I finished my studies and was getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan, there were soldiers in my unit who were now on their second and third deployments. Everyone had different reasons for signing up.

But one thing was common among all of us. We were taught to leave no one behind, and it’s a lesson that has stuck with me.

When fellow soldiers were in distress nobody asked if they were Democrats or Republicans. I’ve seen patriotism with my own eyes and it’s not red or blue. I saw it with the paratroopers that I led in combat, people who were exemplifying bravery every single day. Believing that your neighbors or fellow soldiers deserve support is patriotism to me.

I believe that fighting for one another is going to be the key to our success – and that service will save us. Too often, we continue to be sold false choices as a way of dividing us. As a way of asking us which tribe we belong to.

I believe that we can be more competitive and support economic growth and at the same time say that the economy needs to work for everybody, not just the people who are privileged and who’ve written the rules. Both these things can exist in the same sentence.

As your Governor, I will continue to live by the values I learned throughout my military career and make sure that no one is left behind. I will continue to fight against false choices that seek to divide us, and instead work to make sure that everyone is included.

Elevate,

Wes Moore