McNerney’s Minutes: War Vets Can Teach Us a Lesson or Two

La Verne Chamber of Commmerce CEO Brian McNerney with, from left, John Devine and Jay Fugitt.

On Tuesday July 28, I had a chance to spend time with two real American heroes, John Devine and Jay Fugitt. Both of these gentlemen are World War II veterans.

John was in the European theater and served at Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge with General Patton. Jay served in the Pacific theater and was at Bougainbille in the Solomon Islands and at bloody Luzon in the Philippines. John is 92 years old and lives back on Long Island, New York. He still drives his own car, makes his own meals and visits his doctors for his appointments by himself. He lives with his daughter Irene. Jay is 85 and lives in La Verne with his wife Catherine. He is a member of the senior volunteers and works with the Police Department every Thursday. He is known to bring them donuts when he is on duty!!

Why am I mentioning these two guys? Because it is what the members of this generation did for this country is why we are able to live the way we do in La Verne today!! We should never forget the sacrifices this generation made to help keep this country free!! My Uncle John left his wife when she was two months pregnant and didn’t see his son John until he was 15 months old. In listening to their stories and experiences, neither one of them took any R & R during this period. Jay told me his father served in World War I and his son served in Vietnam.

So right now we are in a tough economy and for us these are tough times but they can’t compare to the sacrifices that these men made to defend their country and assure our place in history. We will get through these tough economic times so buckle down, stay focused and network and participate with other business partners to increase your customer base and get more exposure for your products and services. SO I WANT EVERYONE TO STOP COMPLAINING AND GET AGGRESSIVE AND GET THE JOB DONE LIKE OUR WORLD WAR II VETS DID!!

Along the way, let’s give all our Veterans a BIG THANK YOU for everything they have done for us and our country. We need to pull together to work together to make our economic recovery a reality and continue to make this what it is, THE BEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!!