Turning Pain into Purpose: Veteran Jordan Webster Uses War’s Wounds for Good
In a sudden, violent burst, shrapnel ricochets through the air like fireworks, slamming combat medic Jordan Webster to the ground. Before the cloud of dust and smoke clears, Jordan spots a crumpled silhouette on the ground only a few feet away. It is his brother-in-arms, who just a few minutes prior, switched places with Jordan while en route to attend to other wounded soldiers. As he watches blood stain the dry dirt of southwest Baghdad, Jordan knows that for this brave solider, there will be no wounds to pack and no tourniquets to tighten. Like thousands of Americans who gave all in the name of freedom, Jordan’s friend will leave this war-torn land with fifty stars and thirteen stripes bearing eternal witness to his sacrifice.
Fifteen years later, Jordan can still recall every detail of that deadly IED explosion down to the oppressiveness of the desert air, thick with the scent of hot lead and diesel fuel. It is Jordan’s first combat mission in Iraq—a day of days that would define and divide his life much in the same way history is separated by B.C. and A.D. There is only before, only after.
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Safety Bob: The Capacity to Lead and Character to Inspire
You don’t get a nickname like “Safety Bob” overnight.
Maybe it was born out of the way people perplexedly linger on that first syllable of his last name, waiting expectantly for Bob to finish it. “Mrrr… Mrrr…”
“MER*JEEN*O*VITCH,” he’s learned to sound out before another tongue-tied iteration. But perhaps the alias stems just as much from Bob’s unique-if-hard-to-pronounce surname as his reputation for honesty, fairness, and humility – traits that make our trade partners trust him and his colleagues love him.
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