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Dear
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced the COVID-19 outbreak was a pandemic. Two days later, the US President declared the COVID-19 Pandemic constituted a national emergency for the United States.
Much like the aftermath of Pearl Harbor almost 80 years ago, the world as we know it is upside-down. Navigating the path forward is a mission for every American.
Fighting this microscopic enemy is far different from World War II, and yet there are similarities.
Then, as now, we are called to reflect on who we are and who we will be -- for our family, community, country, and the world -- in a time of crisis.
“All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.” (Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of United Kingdom, 1940-1945)
Project Recover has spent decades immersed in the stories of the Greatest Generation’s service members who fought side-by-side with our Allies to triumph over the greatest threat of their time.
- Personal responsibility
- Integrity
- Humility
- Work ethic
- Sacrifice
- Commitment
Keep an eye out for these values as they reveal themselves in our upcoming social media posts about our MIAs, their families, our team, and our communities as we welcome our MIAs home.
Using these values as rails, men and women in the 1940s overcame war and economic depression and gave their descendants the opportunity for more freedom, education, and affluence than ever before possible.
These very same values will guide us to find innovative solutions and create a new world of health, freedom, sustainability, and peace -- never before possible -- for our descendants.
"Never let yourself be persuaded that any one Great Man, any one leader, is necessary to the salvation of America. When America consists of one leader and 158 million followers, it will no longer be America." (Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president and Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe)
Our mission -- to bring our MIAs home for their recognition and for the closure of their families - remains intact. When it is once again safe to travel, we will follow every national and international guideline for the health of all, in search of our fallen MIAs.
More than ever, we feel the importance of sharing the lives and legacy of our WWII Missing in Action service members.
The young MIA service members who died fighting in World War II for peace, justice, and freedom, return as a subtle reminder and ethereal motivation to gather in love, gratitude, peace, and hope.
When MIAs are brought home, Americans gather to celebrate their return with a better understanding of the common humanity of all people. Families realize through experience that, when people gather for a common purpose of love, gratitude, hope, we transcend differences. It represents a new beginning and is the MIA’s lasting message.
For us, this is a mission worth fighting for.
Derek Abbey served in the United States Marine Corps for 23 years and deployed four times into combat zones. Early on, he learned the importance of keeping calm regardless of the chaos around you.
As an organization, Project Recover will move through the national crisis with this message in mind and commit to being a living legacy to our Greatest Generation’s values.
Our voice, like the MIA’s voice during the fiercest of air battles, will be a voice of calm, stability, consistency, and familiarity.
Our message, like the MIAs lasting message, will be a message of peace, love, gratitude, and hope.
Our mission, like always, will be to bring our MIAs home. In the process, we will share the stories of our MIAs, their families, and even our team and search as a model of values and inspiration of service to family, community, country, and the world.
Over the next four weeks, we will be publishing posts on the many ways people support the mission to bring our MIAs home. It is a tribute that is far from complete. Over the course of time, we find this mission represents, in some form, the mission of every American.
It is now more relevant than ever as it will take every American working together to bring us healthfully through the pandemic and, as a collective, to a better place when it is all over.
While the majority of our Project Recover team members are veterans, active duty, or first responders, more than 40% are non-military. All of our members serve the greater community -- and are patriots. Whether you are in service to one or many, you are in service to the greater good.
As our nurses, doctors, pharmacists, scientists, farmers, truck drivers, factory workers, teachers, caregivers, sanitation workers, journalists, grocery clerks, delivery personnel, and airline workers poignantly demonstrate -- service to the country comes in many forms.
We are eager to serve -- and invite you to serve where you are at.
Thank you for your support for Project Recover.
The Project Recover Team
www.ProjectRecover.org
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