E-Newsletter Articles
Interviewing, copywriting
Veteran Spotlights
These spotlights were brief articles for a state agency's internal newsletter. These were part of a campaign I developed for the agency's newsletters and social media for November to overlap with Veteran's Day and to feature fellow staff who were military veterans. I worked with our HR team to find applicable employees, conducted the interviews, wrote these posts for our e-newsletters, and promoted the stories on the agency's social networks. First names have been removed from this website for privacy.
Veteran Spotlight of the Week: N. Morris
May is Veterans’ Appreciation Month and our first [agency] Veteran Spotlight is N. Morris, a decorated Marine and our Bureau Chief of Private Prison Monitoring in the new Division of Specialized Services.
When N. began his state government career as the Deputy Director of State Purchasing in February 2001, he had just moved to Tallahassee after completing 21 years of service in the Marines. Lieutenant Colonel Morris, who always believed in keeping his home safe and advocated service to our country and community, knew after the attacks of 9/11 that it was time to go back into service.
N. started his career as a Marine Corps Officer in 1980 and three years later deployed to Beirut, Lebanon, as part of the Multi-National Peace-keeping Force. On Oct. 23, 1983, his Battalion was attacked in their barracks and 241 American Marines, Navy sailors and Army soldiers were killed. Morris was one of the 128 surviving Americans wounded in the blast and was awarded his second Purple Heart Medal. He received his first only two months prior, when a 122 mm katyusha rocket detonated about 100 meters from him near the International Airport in Beirut.
Morris served in Beirut, Desert Storm, and Iraqi Freedom. He earned two Purple Heart Medals, the Marine Corps Parachutist breast insignia, a Bronze Star for Valor and a Bronze Star for Meritorious Service.
“My service taught me that you have to appreciate people,” explained Morris. “There can be no accolade achieved or mission accomplished without the support and belief in people.” After impressive stories shared of his service, wounds and losses, the most serious tone of the interview came when he addressed what [agency] employees could learn most about today’s veterans. “Do not take your military for granted,” he stressed. “Today’s war is so different than what I was trained for. It isn’t anything like in our society and we take so much for granted.” Morris explained that we have created more survivors in the past 10 years than ever in history because of the great advancements of medicine as well as the changes in enemy tactics. “These veterans need so much more support for the rest of their lives.” “The military is challenging. It’s ugly. But it needs appreciation. These men and women cannot be forgotten.”
Veteran Spotlight of the Week: M. Jara
This week’s [agency] Veteran Spotlight is on REDM Bureau Chief of Operations and Management, M. Jara. Enlisted from August 1981 through November 1985, M. served as Fire Control Technician, Weapons Division, on the USS Luce-DDG 38. During his service, the guided missile destroyer he called home toured the North Atlantic; went to Guantanamo Bay, the English Channel and Suez Canal; spent six months in the Persian Gulf and eight weeks north of the Arctic Circle; was docked in Bremerhaven Germany for repairs; and dry-docked for a bit in Philadelphia.
“When you have 12-on/12-off shifts on a 512 by 52 ft* vessel for eight month stretches at a time, you learn so many things. You learn life skills, about people, about other positions on board and definitely about yourself. What will you do with your time after you get sleep during your 12 hours off?”
Guided Missile Destroyers are one of the smaller ships operating in support of carrier battle groups. The USS Luce served an important role to communications for U.S. troops during Jara’s service. However, there was no internet at the time, so he realized he needed to figure out he needed to invest his hours off-shift while on board. He gained focus and realized he wanted to go to college. During his fourth year of service, while based in Mayport, Florida, Luce’s port, M. began taking courses at Santa Fe College in Gainesville (and met his wife). After earning his Associates, he earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida.
*512 feet 6 inches long, 52 feet 4 inches wide per Wikepedia.org
Veteran Spotlight of the Week: D. Wright
Most people change over time. D. Wright credits her inner and physical strength, confidence and self-assurance to the U.S. Army. D. was shy, quiet, reserved, and never wanted to push herself or any boundaries. She was fine with the norm. That is, until she joined the ROTC in high school. Then, when she enlisted in the Army in February 1988, a new woman emerged. The girl who previously sat in the back of classrooms was now the guidon bearer, carrying her commanding officer and unit’s designation, which pushed her to the front of her unit, serving as the pacesetter for training runs and overall rallying point for the troop.
Truly, the credit belongs to the combination of her experiences. Over her eleven and-a-half years of service, Wright completed tours to Germany and Saudi Arabia and traveled to neighboring countries. The Army taught her discipline, and she fought her way through challenges at the urging of her supervisors.
“Don’t let the service make you – YOU make the service,” Wright explained. “I learned to make it positive, to make me stronger. When I had a drill sergeant yelling at me to do push-ups, I didn’t let her get to me. I told myself how proud I was to now be able to do 60 push-ups when I could hardly do 5 when I joined.”
Wright’s lessons from her travels, her personal development and self-awareness, could make a movie. It is very clear to see the pride she still holds in her heart for her time in the military. “I would have served a lifetime if I could have,” she explained. Some of her life’s challenges led her to the decision to end her service. Learning of her transformation and understanding the difficulty of such a decision, it makes one wonder how much harder life’s challenges would have been on Wright had she never become an Army Specialist.
Veteran Spotlight of the Week: V. Grice
High school basketball, track and football star; librarian at the Florida State Hospital; revenue specialist and benefits administrator with state agencies; personnel manager, ordinance officer and firefighter in the Navy…
Pedy Officer First Class, Retired, V. Grice has a wider range of personal and professional experiences than most of us could imagine.
V.’s grandmother and parents imposed strong work ethics and encouraged courtesy and respect for others—values that served him well when he joined the U.S. Navy. V. served from June 1982 to July 2004, including four years of active duty and 18 in the Reserves. He spent his active years on carrier vessels serving as key communicator between the fighter pilots and ships’ officers.
He spent most of his active service years on the U.S.S. Ranger CV-61 (a 1,046-foot-long aircraft carrier) in the Indian Ocean – with a few stops in Hawaii. In 1984, while in the Arabian Gulf, his vessel’s engine room caught fire. As all personnel on board a naval ship do, Grice served in multiple roles. He was pulled into action to put out the fire. His family upbringing and military training combined—bringing his self-awareness, character, discipline and positive perspective to fruition. Six U.S.S. Ranger shipmates were killed and 35 were injured, but Grice recalls “it could have been worse if each of us hadn’t done the right things, done what we were responsible for.”
When he served on the U.S.S. America, he visited a list of European ports speckled around the Mediterranean Ocean; however, it was the Philippines that forever changed his worldview. “There were kids and teens with no shoes, in just their one pair of pants, and wondering where their next meal would come from,” he recalls. Now he advises others to “Enjoy the moment your provided and don’t take anything for granted.”
Veteran Spotlight of the Week: D. Lake
Our veteran spotlights have shared how the military made a difference in each colleague’s life. D. Lake went from ninth grade drop-out, to Gulf War U.S. Naval specialist, to sought-after prosecutor for the state and volunteer leadership speaker. D. now consults for [the agency] as Special Counsel.
After Navy boot camp and specialized naval schooling, because of exceptional test scores and personal performance, Lake was allowed a one-on-one with the Base Commander and the option of what to do next in his military career. The Base Commander advised him to join an elite and unique group of Navy specialists known as the Plank Owners. Daniel became part of the team that designed, built and commissioned the USS Monterey, an AEGIS guided missile cruiser loaded with combat systems for her Battle Group designed and built to fight in a multi-threat environment. The Monterey was built in Bath, Maine, and had sea trials and war games spanning the country’s east coast and Guantanamo. The years D. dedicated to this ship made his commission a time of personal and national pride for the Petty Officer.
After this experience, he had several assignments that took him across the globe via land, sea and air, including Israel during the Persian Gulf War, Bulgaria, Romania and other countries around the Black and Mediterranean Seas. It wasn’t his travels that made the greatest impression on him, though.
“Before the military, I was asking myself how I would make it to the next day,” Lake explained. “The military shaped me, provided me a plan and father figures.”
“What I learned from the military is that it’s not about doing the job, it’s about the reward of doing the job,” which is why, Daniel explained, certain people get more than others from their years of service. “Service commitment is a mutual give and take. The military may need you, but if you need it just as much, you’ll get the most out of it.”
D. has completed his years of active duty and in the Reserves, but continues to speak on behalf of the Navy and the leadership skills he owes to the service and the nation’s citizens who made that possible.