Team,

Most of us probably didn’t expect to spend this Memorial Day confined at home. But I find something resonant in that, because today is a day for honoring those who never had the chance to come home. This day is actually not about America’s veterans. It’s about those who served who never had the chance to become veterans because they sacrificed their lives during their service.

I’m thinking about friends today—like Laura Mankey, who flew T-34s side by side with me in Corpus Christi, Texas, while we went through Naval aviation flight training together. Several years after flight school, Laura and her helicopter and crew were lost at sea off the coast of San Diego during routine operations in 2007. What I remember most about her is that she was a quiet professional with an amazingly warm heart.

I’m thinking about Miroslav Zilberman. I called him “Zilby.” He was originally from Ukraine, and after Chernobyl, his family came to America. Zilby and I were part of a small group of pilots who went through training together to learn how to land on aircraft carriers. A couple of years later, while facing a mechanical failure midflight over the North Arabian Sea, Zilby made sure his fellow E-2C Hawkeye crew members safely got out first. After he ditched the aircraft in the ocean, Zilby was the only one who did not survive. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

And I’m remembering Erik Kristensen, my platoon commander at the U.S. Naval Academy, lost during a search and rescue mission to rescue a four-man SEAL team engaged with Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. Erik was one of those people you were proud to have as your leader. He led with quiet confidence and by example.

I’ll be thinking of them and the many others I knew. These Americans gave all for this country. Their sacrifice makes me want to work harder to make our nation a better place, to keep fighting for the values and ideals that are the very fabric of our country.

This Memorial Day, if there is someone you knew who made the ultimate sacrifice, share their stories with others. Write about them, talk about them. Keep their memory alive—reminding the rest of us to keep carrying the load.

Thank you,
Amy