#TruMemorial: Servant Leadership on Display

At dawn on Memorial Day, the San Diego Chapter of the Truman National Security Project, on behalf of the Truman Center for National Policy, organized more than 600 volunteers at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery to place 30,000 roses on the graves of veterans in a tribute to fallen heroes who sacrificed their lives for our great nation. Not every grave that received a rose belonged to a veteran who died in combat or from wounds sustained therein but each rose reminded us of the thousands that have.

Although this sunrise event started as my brain child in 2015, it grew too rapidly since then for me to organize its success alone. This year’s event in particular was truly a group effort, and I want everyone to know about the ones who put in all the hard work to make it such a success. I am confident that I missed some folks. For that, I apologize. I am still floored by the selflessness of everyone involved and couldn't be happier to have had so many people making this vision a reality. This event was truly a study in servant leadership.

Maggie Seymour | #TruSD | Defense Council

Maggie, the coordinator of the event, is an active duty Marine who is separating from service soon. She's dedicated to service and runs a ridiculous number of miles to raise money and awareness for several different causes.In fact, she's going to run across the entire nation beginning in July. Check out Run Free Run to get involved. Maggie’s parents also deserve special recognition. They were in town on vacation and spent three days of their time here helping us succeed. They didn’t complain, they just went to work. Of note, they’re from Springfield, Illinois which happens to be my birthplace.

Gil Cabrera | #TruSD | Political Partner

When I talk about Gil, I cannot help but talk about his integrity. I like to say that he has more integrity in his pinkie than almost anyone else I know in politics. He's an incredible attorney, a great friend, and an even better father. Seeing him interact with Krista Sandler Cabrera and his daughters always makes me want to be a better father and partner. Gil threw himself in at 4:00am on Monday morning and didn't stop until everything was clean.

Bob Muth | #TruSD | Security Fellow

Bob is an attorney who runs the veterans law clinic at University of San Diego School of Law. He was, at one time, the senior defense attorney on the ground in Iraq. He has served as chair of San Diego Veterans Coalition SDVC and is a powerful voice in the San Diego vets community. We all hope he runs for office someday. He was in charge of volunteers at the Rose Ceremony and did a phenomenal job.

Bruce Stanley

Bruce and I met aboard USS Thach (FFG-43) where I was a young sailor and he was the Executive Officer. About a year after I detached, he became a friend and mentor. He is responsible for the amazing photos and served on the committee from the beginning. Bruce takes amazing portraits and aims to tell a story through his photos. I'm blown away by his talent.

Bill York | Truman Project Advisory Board

Bill has been an institution in San Diego veterans circles for years. He is the Executive VP at 2-1-1 San Diego and was then Assemblywoman Toni Atkins’ veteran of the year in 2015. He serves on Truman's advisory board and has donated time, treasure, and talent to Truman here in San Diego and in Washington, DC. In fact, he's responsible for the West Coast Party every year. Bill is fortunate enough to be married to a wonderful man, Sal Usman, who owns Copy Cove of La Jolla. They got involved with the Rose Ceremony last year in multiple ways. First, Sal donated signs and thank you cards (which he did again this year). Then they showed up at 4:00am with a car full of people and made sure we were ready to rock. Finally, they hosted breakfast for all Truman members after the ceremony. The tradition continued this year, and these two gents show time and again that they are incredible humans, and that both San Diego and Truman are lucky to have them.

Doug and Darlene from Genesee Florist

Doug and Darlene are new to the rose ceremony this year, but boy did they make a splash. They ordered the flowers for us at a steep discount and dedicated staff time on Sunday and Monday to deliver and then prepare the flowers. They made sure we had all 30,000 flowers plus 4 wreaths.

Bob Nelson

If we are friends, you probably know about Bob. He is one of the kindest, most thoughtful, and most insane people you were ever meet. I like to describe him as a brilliant insane person and as an insanely brilliant person. Bob is my friend, mentor, and chosen family. Not only was he the first donor, but he was also the largest personal donor. He is additionally the largest donor to Truman San Diego both in kind and monetarily. He even hosted the TruHQ staff for this event. He also hosts salons and other events, as well as donates the use of his sailboat to TruSD. We are the only chapter that can boast having such a deal.

A.J. Brooks | #TruSD | Defense Council

A.J. is one of the most remarkable human beings. He's TruSD Communications Director and an active Marine. He also hosts Homefront Media and makes sure to highlight real stories about real humans. You will not meet a better storyteller or a more thoughtful person. A.J. was on the Rose Committee and made sure to get us pre-event media, food for meetings, and literally anything else we needed. He's a jack of all trades and master of several.

Karlie McClelland | #TruSD | Security Fellow

I want the world to know about Karlie. She is always the smartest person in the room and speaks both elegantly and eloquently. My favorite things about her are that she is a dressage fanatic (that's horse ballet), a Daughter of the American Revolution, and always black tie ready. For the Rose Ceremony, she provided great insight, introduced us to Ray Drasnin and Shannon McCombie, and was there for almost every single meeting. She and her husband showed up at 4:00am on Monday morning, and they both got to work. Karlie embodies the servant leader ideal.

Hannah Truslow | TruHQ

Hannah handles Development for Truman and is the sole reason we figured out fundraising into the non-profit for this event. She worked really hard making sure we knew how much was in the account and who was donating. She flew out here for the event after being home only a couple of days following an international trip.

Anthony Robinson-Rob | TruHQ | Defense Council

Rob and I teach Military 101 to Truman's incoming orientation classes every year. We couldn't be more different or similar. I consider him a very close friend and someone I hold in very high regard. With just a few day's notice, he got on a plane and flew out for this event. He just took on a big job at TruHQ as Director of Training and Public Engagement. He will be the public face of Truman HQ around the nation. The story he told at the ceremony was heartbreaking and moving.

Omar Passons | #TruSD | Security Fellow

Omar is a new member of Truman, but has fallen in quickly. He's a man who will always lend an ear and truly seeks to understand when people are talking to him. He managed all of the food for the event and dealt with angry people seeking coffee that hadn't yet arrived due to traffic. He threw himself in the morning of the event and proved himself humble and hardworking.

Andy Kopp | #TruSD | Defense Council

Andy is a fellow Navy veteran. He is also new to TruSD, but has thrown himself in. He was deployed for most of the planning, but as soon as he returned, he dove right in to help. He showed up early for the ceremony, helped manage the maintenance office and staging area, and then came back the next day to help clean up. He's an incredible guy who takes seriously the business of community engagement. His amazing wife (the much better half) was right there with him, and the Truman community is lucky to have them both.

Councilman David Alvarez | #TruSD | Political Partner

Despite being an incredibly busy elected official, David always makes time for Truman. He shows up to more meetings than most and exhibits a humility not shown by many folks in politics. When our number more than tripled what we expected, he found us more coffee and then purchased the cream, sugar, cups, and other stuff necessary to serve it. Then he woke up early, delivered it, and blended in to the crowd.

Amanda Katona

I've long said that if I ever started a business with employees, I would want Amanda to be the COO. You won't meet a more badass or determined woman. We met working in the human trafficking space (fighting it, not participating in it), and I was blown away. She took care of the first round of coffee for the crew. We’re hoping she’ll apply for Truman very soon.

Katelyn Miller

Katelyn is new to the Truman community and will be applying next year. She contacted me while we were planning the event and wanted to learn more. When we spoke, I learned we had similar jobs in the Navy and that she is a badass body builder. She showed up on Sunday to help set up, and she showed up early Monday morning. She get to work and made sure we were able to get it done.

Ray Drasnin

Ray handled PR for us. His company is Purple Penguin PR, and he did an excellent job of professionalizing our media for this year. We're so happy to have worked with him and can't wait to do more with him.

Barbi Appelquist | TruLA | Political Partner

Barbi has supported every single year with time, treasure, and talent. She is an attorney and a die-hard community servant. She helped with setup and was there bright and early Monday morning doing what she does best--executing the mission and bringing joy to everyone around her.

Shellie VanDiver

My mom has been there for me and Ryan every time I do some crazy event. She's an iron lady and just handles it. Truman probably owes her a vacation or something. I wrote this article about her for her birthday in 2016 and you should read it to bask in her glory.

Stefanie Benvenuto

My lovely and talented girlfriend and partner in all things not-political. She put up with my distraction and months-long work on this. She is not a morning person (not even a little), but got up at 3:00am on Monday with a positive attitude and ready to work. She didn't hide in the car and sleep until the ceremony--instead she dove right in and put in hard work to make this a reality. She’s a private person and loathes public recognition for anything, but she absolutely deserves to be lauded. I am a very lucky man.

Matt Lacy

Although we fight like cats and dogs on facebook, Matt has showed up for the Rose Ceremony for the past two years. He doesn't say much in public, but he does dive in and make shit happen. This year, he helped with day of cleanup and then mobilized some of his coworkers to help with cleanup. He never asks for anything in return and always delivers.

Speakers

The most moving part of this ceremony, in my opinion, are the speakers willing to share stories about those they’ve lost. In years past, we’ve opened it to the crowd. Nowadays, we select the speakers ahead of time. This year, we were brought to tears by stories from Maggie Seymour, Anthony Robinson, Nathan Fletcher, Shannon McCombie, and A.J. Brooks.

Donors

The first year, we had about 20 donors; last year we had about 30. This year we had more than 130 donors. I wish I could thank them all, but I think this post would be considered spam or something. Our biggest supporters include Herzog Contracting Corp, IBEW Local 569, The United Association of Plumbers & Steamfitters Local Union 230, Uber, Cushman Foundation, Bob Nelson, Manpower San Diego, Daniel M. Gilleon, Robert Muth, Andrea Tevlin, Alex Eaker Pérez, Andy Kopp, and Mark Cafferty. Gil Cabrera and Laurie Black both hit their email lists for us and brought in a big chunk of the total fundraising. A huge shout out to Peet's Coffee and Starbucks for supporting with coffee and to Einstein Bros Bagels for providing bagels.

San Diego elected officials and community leaders

We had several elected and appointed officials show up to the Rose Ceremony and participate as volunteers. San Diego Union Tribune Columnist Diane Bell pointed out that this may be the only event where elected officials show up with no speaking role, just to volunteer. She was right. And San Diego elected and community leaders did not disappoint. Their presence showed that they care about and understand (or at least want to understand) the gravity of the day and the sacrifice that so many San Diego families have made. It's really easy to show up at a reasonable hour in a suit, sit on a stage, and get great press. It's a whole other thing to show up before the sun, sit in traffic for an hour, blend into the crowd, and do work as the rest of the city slumbers. Servant leadership is a thing, and the folks who showed up proved that they do it.

I am humbled and honored to have worked with each of these incredible humans.

Truman's nationwide community of post-9/11 veterans, frontline civilians, policy experts, and political professionals share a common vision of U.S. leadership abroad – that America is at its best when we use all the tools in our toolbox: defense, diplomacy, development, and democracy promotion. Hailing from 16 Chapters and 47 different states across the nation, our membership of over 1600 believes in a strong, smart, and principled foreign policy that sees the United States leading the global community. The San Diego Chapter of Truman was launched in 2015 and includes community, political, and military leaders from throughout the region.

The San Diego Chapter of Truman was launched in 2015 and includes community, political, and military leaders from throughout the region.