The late General Douglas MacArthur, the renowned U.S. military commander during World War II and the Korean War, once said, “No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.”
As the nation celebrates Veterans Day in November – November 11th, to be exact – Community Electric Cooperative proudly includes among its work force six military veterans who embodied MacArthur’s credo with service to our nation.
They are:
- Noah Futrell, RECORE Operations Technician, who served 12 years in the Navy; he happens to be CEC’s most recent hire, having joined the RECORE team on November 3rd
- Flynn Gladden, Engineering Supervisor, who served seven and a half years in the Navy
- Travis Pickrell, RECORE Operations Technician, who served four years in the Marine Corps
- Glen Presson, Manager of Operations, who served four years in the Marine Corps
- Mitch Simmons, Manager of Information Technology, who served four years in the Navy; and
- John Wangerin, Flagger, who served 20 years in the Air Force
These men build on the legacy of other veterans who have been part of the CEC team since the co-op’s creation nearly 90 years ago. They also are among the nearly 16 million veterans nationwide who devoted years of their lives to service in the U.S. armed forces. That number does not include the approximately 1.3 million men and women on active duty in the U.S. military, nor the 765,000 reservists who are not on full-time duty but are subject to being called up if needed.
“We live in such a great nation, and that is due in no small part to the freedoms we enjoy because of military veterans past and present,” says CEC President and CEO Steven A. Harmon. “I feel privileged to work alongside the veterans among our work force, and I join all of our employees in thanking them for their service to our nation. Especially this month, I hope others within the CEC community will express their appreciation as they interact or cross paths with them.”