I am Dave Morzenti, and I serve on the Board of Directors of The 9.11 Promise. I would like to share with you some reasons why I work with this fantastic charitable organization.
I graduated high school in 1991 and joined the Marine Corps Reserves as an enlisted infantryman. I was also attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison full-time and taking Naval ROTC classes with the goal of becoming a Marine Corps officer. I graduated from college in May 1995 and received my commission as a second lieutenant on active duty in the Marine Corps.
As a Marine Corps officer, I was initially an Artillery Officer, and then I was selected to go to law school to become a military lawyer for the Marine Corps. I graduated from law school in May 2001, and in August 2001, I started Naval Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island.
Then, our country was attacked by terrorists on September 11th. This tragic event changed the Marine Corps and the military, and greatly affected or influenced just about everything that I have been doing since then: deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan; helping Wounded Warriors; career assignments and duty stations; and supporting teammates, friends and family members through deployments.
At this point in my life and career, I feel like it is the right time to pass the torch to the next generation to work on the national security challenges facing our country. These challenges are more dangerous, more complex, and the world is more fragile than it was 25 years ago.
In order to solve these tough challenges, the next generation is going to have to be well-educated to understand the complexity and history of what has happened before; to understand the mistakes that were made; and how to do things better in the future. They also have to know that they can count on those that came before them, and that they are not alone.
For me, working with The 9.11 Promise is a personally meaningful way to remember and honor all of those affected by the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and the wars and operations that followed; and providing educational scholarships to children of those injured or killed in the line of duty is a successful way to remember and honor their service and sacrifice.