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20 G.I. JOBS | OCTOBER 2016 | GIJOBS.COM around their memorial. Seems to me that we have a valid model with the Vietnam experience … we should strive to rinse and repeat that." FOOT SOLDIER Brennan will tell you it all started with a blister. He felt lost after his Army service. The West Point graduate had landed a good job as a logistician, but moving boxes around a warehouse just wasn't cutting it after flying missions in the most dangerous environment in world. After a year he quit his job, put all of his belongings in storage, and set out with five other veterans to hike the Continental Divide Trail. Along the way, he got a blister on his foot that got infected. The infection IT TOOK ALMOST 60 YEARS for America to honor the 16 million Americans who served in World War II with a national memorial in Washington, D.C. It took 42 years to complete a national monument to those who served in Korea. Andrew Brennan, 31, is determined not to let that happen to the veterans who served – and still are serving – in the Global War on Terror. A former Army Blackhawk pilot who flew combat missions in Afghanistan, he is spearheading a campaign to build a national memorial to those who have served since Sept. 11 – even as Americans are still dying overseas. "I don't want the service members who fought in 2001 to never see their memorial," Brennan says. "The WWII Memorial wasn't dedicated until 59 years after the war. Sadly, many of them had passed already. You juxtapose that experience with the Vietnam generation that has experienced 30- plus years of group healing got into his bloodstream, and Brennan wound up in a hospital in New Mexico fighting for his life against sepsis, a silent killer that claims hundreds of thousands of lives every year. As Brennan recovered, a local Vietnam veteran who lived in Albuquerque offered to put him up for a few days, then give him a ride to meet the rest of his hiking buddies who had continued with the hike. In the meantime, the veteran invited Brennan to a lunch along the route of the "Run for the Wall" to serve more than 250 motorcycle- riding veterans traveling from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., for "Rolling Thunder" on Memorial Day weekend. He did, and it changed his life. "I was overwhelmed by the camaraderie of the group. HONORING YOU Post-9/11 veterans campaign to build a national memorial to the Global War on Terror. BY DAN FAZIO THIS ISSUE PATRIOTISM Photo: From left: Andrew Brennan, founder and executive director; Matt Gannon, head of federal affairs for Farmers Insurance; George A. Chewning II, legislative director; and Melissa Kim, marketing and PR advisor