By Lee Kirby, Co-founder and Chairman of Salute Mission Critical
The concept of the Latin phrase nemo resideo, or “leave no one behind,” is almost as old as warfare itself. Greek mythology portrayed heroes who rescued those captured by enemies. Similar language can be found in the Soldier’s Creed “I will never leave a fallen comrade” — as well as the Airman’s Creed — “I will never leave an Airman behind.” This is a core value that Veterans carry with them forever even if they do not realize it and it comes out in other ways.
At Salute, homeless veterans are our fallen comrades, and that core value is evident in every veteran we hire. When I tell this story, I get choked up with pride because it is a living example of our values and happened when our team instinctively did what was right without pausing or asking for higher HQ support. A couple of months ago, Salute deployed a team to Oregon to conduct a two-week project at a large data center. We hired some local veterans and sent our core team there to train and conduct the project. We did not know it, at the time, but one of the local veterans hired was homeless. When deployed, our teams sleep two to a room in modest hotels. As you can imagine, it is far better than sleeping in your car which is what that local veteran was doing. To amplify the issue, his pregnant wife, son, and daughter were living in the car too. The team found out about this, immediately took action, and it was not until they returned that the story came out. Their solution: empty one of their rooms and the displaced staff would sleep on the floor in the other rooms. This let them move the family in while the project was going so that they could shower and have a bed to sleep in. Because of that project this veteran was able to make enough money to get his family into a modest apartment and is on his way. This is another example of what we are doing to change the lives of veterans and their families and why I am so humbled to be part of such a great team. Leave no one behind!