On Sunday 10/18, Pat had the opportunity to share Val’s story and messages of character with 25+ young adults at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Ellicott City, MD. Pat is a trained ambassador for the Travis Manion Foundation‘s “Character Does Matter” (CDM) program, which inspires young adults to live with character and adopt the “If Not Me, Then Who…” ethos into their daily lives. Veterans and families of the fallen deliver presentations that share a message of courage, integrity, leadership, and service with young adults (more than 30,000 per year).

According to Pat, “this was a great group to talk to and share some powerful stories.  In addition of Travis and Brendan’s stories, I used Val’s story as well as USMC Maj Megan McClung’s story that her mother shared with us while we were in the Whidbey Island, WA area a few weeks ago. Meg’s and Val’s smiles were reflected throughout the room and hopefully touched many hearts. Thank you TMF for this opportunity to inspire the next generation of young leaders and carry in their own hearts some of our children’s spirits.  May they continue the missions they started.”

We are working with TMF to get more of our W4V ambassadors trained in giving CDM presentations, while also adapting the presentation to include several stories of female fallen heroes to be able to especially focus on inspiring young women. Can’t wait to see how this grows!