expertise there's a little bit of the fear of the unknown. last part. say we had training and then the tower itself. and then the way i was able to let's goortable i said here and we will jump. reason i was able to do that is i remembered back to something that is interesting. timere talking about this when paul references christ's word he talks about my gracious fish and sea for you because my power is made perfect in weakness. the soweto minute. i do not know what is missing. i am feeling uncertain about the unknown.

what allow me to take that big leap of faith and step out over the edge with there was no base to pull me. i remember the devotional from years ago. a long time ago, i remember reading a devotional about a guy who have been unable with a friend of his who have been a captain in the navy. they were starting out in their boat. as they got away from the dock, started to get windy. the fumes started to pick up. the next thing you know he was leaning over the railing about to throw up. deck said stopindex hanging over the railing and find a stable spot on the horizon and focus on that. , i diddid the zipline that. i thought what am i looking down at the ground.

could look down the thousand feet. i looked at where the touchdown platform. it was about a 12 foot base. i can see the people way off in the distance. i stopped looking down. i just ran off the end. the great part about it was after i took the first step it was kind of fun. i let out a yell. it wasn't a squeal or a screen. it was a "whohoo" the whole way down i was sharing with our friend. it was a lot of fun. the time i was done and wanted to go do it again. it was pretty exciting. it was that first step here it it was only when i recalled the devotional. that is where you are. where that came to life was the geek about the great story about peter. when the disciples were out in the boat, and christ's was out

walking across the water and they thought it was a goes and they got freaked out and jesus , come to me. "walk at first he said "sure." renumber what happened? he looked down and saw the waves. he felt the wind. do your member what happened next? he started to sink. he started to sink. he lost sight. he started worry -- to worry about things instead of the horizon. in that case it was christ's himself. tonight the message i hope to leave with you is for east of through this.one i have seen the facilities. i've talked to the staff and the leadership. you are ready. you have a great education. you are well-prepared. to be in health care, education, business.

you are ready to make a difference. you are going to have powers now. some will be baked. some are going to be small. some going to have an outcome that is known in some one have many more unknown. you will be called on to take that leap of faith. my message you tonight is not just that you have the training support, mye and hope for you tonight is that when you take that education and to conquer the towers and get ready to take the leap that you will be blessed to remember to focus on the most important thing of all and that is the way the fear of taking on that next great leap of faith is to make sure in all that you do sun and o.p.s. on the

the her right -- that you focus horizon.n in the you focus on the one who will give you comfort and stability could concoct are the waves and wind and fear. if you do that, you will have a steady and safe landing. your training will be in place. your fears will be overcome. he will continue to be a success. you as youhly bless take on your next leap of faith. [applause] >> coming up, a discussion about the impact of war on civilians. speakers include one of the three american hikers taken hostage in iran in 2009. the university

of colorado's annual world affairs conference. we will have a tonight at 8:55 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> thank you for your service. thank you. we are glad you're here. >> i am thankful to be here. >> you will have a very nice surprise when you go on the memorial. it is beautiful. >> i was in the marine corps. >> that is. >> is west. -- it was. >> thank you for being here today.

former world war ii veteran and senator bob dole regularly greet visitors at the world war ii memorial in washington. it is part of the three-day holiday weekend in american history television tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span3. president obama participated in a memorial day commemoration at arlington national cemetery. speaking to veterans following an unannounced visit with u.s. troops in afghanistan, he paid tribute to those that made the ultimate sacrifice and said the country's owes the veterans the care they need. for the ceremony, he laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown.

♪ anthem] national ♪

♪

>> ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the introduction

of the president, honors, and national anthem. >> national cap little regent and united states army district

of washington. s.or general jeffrey buchanan. commanding general united states army, district of washington. her army national military cemeteries. . dempsey, joint chiefs of staff. the honorable chuck hagel, secretary of defense. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. ♪

>> ladies and gentlemen, chaplin brainerd. >> let judge doing together in prayer. join together in prayer. almighty god, we ask that your prayers and it's -- that your presence be upon us this day on which we come together. it is here on this hollowed ground to honor those brave men and women who gave all they had with the service of our nation and for our freedom. never let us forget the sacrifice and their willingness to serve. we know they did not ask to become heroes. they simply asks for current age to do their duty, to never leave their friends, their brothers

and sisters, those who stood watch with them. we continue to command your holy spirit, these brave warriors, who died for our country and war. we recognize their gifted to us is peace and liberty. the kind of liberty that endorsed their long struggles, that tries our nation's soul. is found fromthat the blood of these our heroes. rate men and women who answered the call saying "send it mean." brave men and women who will never be seen again in this life. let us now celebrate this forrty and may give comfort those who continue to grieve. let them know that their loved one did not die in vain and that we will never, ever forget. help is now as we recommit our lives to the service of our great nation and all the brave

men and women who proudly served in uniform, especially those in harms way this day. let them know that they are not alone. things in your holy name, amen. please join the united states navy band and singing our national anthem. oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, o'er the rampa rts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? and the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. o say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? ♪ >> please, be seated. ladies and gentlemen, general dempsey. [applause]

[cheers and applause] thanks very much. mr. president, secretary hagel, members of congress, veterans,hed guests, and especially the families of our missing and fallen warriors and especially those here from the tragedy assistance program for survivors good grief camp. day but especially a memorial day arlington and gentle rolling hills remind us that on this hallowed ground so much history and so much valor rests. gleamingut on these white headstones i'm always reminded of a seldom stung -- sung stand of america the beautiful.

beautiful for patriot dreams that see beyond the years alabaster cities gleam undimmed by human tears. honor the patriot dreams of america's sons and daughters, those who are willing to fight in every place, if you are willing to risk and give their lives for our nation's ideals. we grieve buter we are also inspired. here we celebrate the time a undimmed byamerica human tears. we are better for the sacrifice of the men and women who served. memorial day gives us the chance to bow our heads and honor our foreign heroes. we remember their devotion. we respect her dedication to our theonal this, to secure blessings of liberty. it is the responsibility of a

grateful nation to look back. it is incumbent on us to look forward. american sons and daughters are out there today on the frontiers of our common defense. they are in afghanistan and on mountains and plains around the world. they are across the shining seas and they are in the spacious skies. footsteps of generations before, they will march with courage and commitment to make a difference for each other, for us, and to people they have never even met but with whom they share a drink it better teacher. day inspired each and every by our men and women in uniform, by their sense of purpose and character. they represent the best of this rate country. let us remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for this great nation and shows america stands firmly with those who protect her. let's renew and rededicate ourselves to the ideal of our nation to my freedom, responsibility, patriot dreams, undimmed by human tears.

may god shed his grace on our fallen, their families, and to this nation. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, listen now as the navy band played"america the beautiful." ♪

beautiful for spacious skies for amber waves of grain, majesties mountain fruited plain! america! america! god shed his grace on thee

thy good with brotherhood shining sea! ♪ feettiful for pilgrim

♪ america! america! god shed his grace on thee thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea! ♪

america!\america! america! ♪ [applause]

gentlemen,nd secretary hagel. [applause] >> thank you. good morning. president, mrs. obama, vice president biden, dr. biden, secretary shinseki, general dempsey, major general buchanan, ladies and gentlemen, first, i want to acknowledge and add my ourome to the families of military men and women who are here today and who are watching this around the world. i want to particularly welcome whofamilies of the fallen,

are here with us this morning. we admire you. we are grateful. we will never forget your sacrifices and the sacrifices of your loved ones. gentlemen, i very much appreciate the opportunity this morning in this observed this very sacred, very sacred day in america, memorial day. we gather to remember those who sacrificed everything in defense of our nation. this memorial day has a special next weekiven that marks the 70th anniversary of the d-day landings at normandy home of the day that was, bloodiest dayca's in all of world war ii, a day when more than 10,000 allied casualties, such a staggering

toll which is difficult to comprehend, and as we commemorate the fallen, i think of the wisdom and humility of our then-supreme allied commander, general dwight eisenhower. not long after the first anniversary of d-day, he said that any battlefield commander, no matter how accomplished or celebrated he might be, would sadly face the fact that his honors cannot hide in his memories the crosses marking the resting places of the dead. they cannot soothe the anguish of the widow or the orphan whose husband or father or son or .aughter will not return when general eisenhower spoke those words, our nation and its military were approaching a period of great transition. victory had been achieved in europe. the war would end in the coming months. soldiers, sailors, airmen, and

marines were coming home to get on with their lives, and they began to ask, where should we go from here? today we conclude 13 years of war, the longest in our history. america is approaching another period of transition. as always, these times of change and uncertainty require exceptional leadership. they demand leaders who are strong in the face of challenges, who are wise in the face of complexity, who are prudent in the face of uncertainty, and who are at humboldt as the courageous individuals the leaves. our commander-in-chief is one of those exceptional leaders. was in afghanistan less than 24 hours ago, and on behalf of all of our military men and women and their families across the world, i want to thank him and his personal commitment to those deployed in

harm's way. ladies and gentlemen, i am honored to introduce to you now the president of the united states. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you so much. thank you, secretary hagel, for your introduction and for your lifetime of service. army surgeonoung to the secretary of defense. , jill, mr.ent biden dempsey, major general p cannon, chaplain brainerd, to our men and women in uniform, to our and most ofveterans

all to the gold star here who remember the loved ones they have lost, michelle and i are humbled and honored. to spend this memorial day with you. every year, this ceremony marks ourher page in the life of nation. this year, in particular, as we 150th anniversary of this holy space, arlington national cemetery, and 150 years hillsides not on far from where we gather today. a nation ill prepared war found itself overwhelmed with the task sons,ying so many of its

so we declared on this hill a final resting place for those willing to lay down their lives for the country that we love, and on a spring day in 1864, ofvate william christman pennsylvania was the first american to find internal rest on these grounds. inr that 1.5 centuries, times of war and in times of peace, americans have come here to pay tribute not only to the loved ones who meant the world to them but to all of our .eroes, known and unknown here, in perfect military order live the patriots who saved the union. are thede-by-side privates and the generals who defeated fascism and lay at the

foundation. here lies the americans who fought through vietnam and those who won the long, twilight struggle against communism, and here in the section line men and women who gave their lives to over more than a decade of war in iraq and afghanistan. early this morning, i returned from afghanistan. yesterday, i visited with some of our men and women serving their, 7000 miles from home, and for more than 12 years, the men and women like those i met with have borne the burden of our nation's security. now, because of their profound sacrifice and because of the sacrifice they have made we are

in a pivotal moment. by troops are coming home. the end of this year, the war in afghanistan will finally come to an end. [applause] and yesterday at bagram and here today in arlington, we pay tribute to the nearly 2200 american patriot who have made the ultimate sacrifice in afghanistan. and we will honor them always. and in cemeteries throughout our ,ountry and around the world and here on these solemn of oures, the families fallen shares stories of the lives they lead. absencets ache in their

, but our hearts are also full, full in knowing that their legacy shines bright in the people that they love the most. through almost unimaginable lost, they have the courage and resolve that many of us will never know, and we draw comfort and strength. we draw strength from the promise of their children. today, michelle and jill were brave boys and girls whose parents gave everything they had in service to the country. there were mothers and fathers, like a staff sergeant who gave his life in afghanistan four years ago. things have been hard for

michael's family, and yet, the love of his mother, they have thelayed a strength yawned years. the oldest of the three has become a mentor to others who have lost their parents, and the middle girl was used to her dad carrying her everywhere when she was little. now seven, she shepherds her juste sister, and she was a baby when her dad was deployed and is starting to understand what it means to us that her daddy served the country. , and wee are here today say to you and to all of these courageous children, your bravery is in you. you will never walk alone. we are with you, and that is our

pledge to you. [applause] we draw strength also from the spouses of the fallen. gantant first class joseph was a veteran of world war ii edwards on alara train, and he spent two years before sheara finally agreed to marry him, and then when joseph deployed to korea, joseph told his young not to remarry if he did come back. she told him no. he had a hard enough time getting her to say yes in the first place, he said. he waited two years for her, and she would wait as long as it took for him to come home. when joseph went missing in

action, clara waited. she waited 63 years. meanwhile, our country continue to bring him the missing from all of the wars, and then last hismber, last december, remains finally identified. joseph returned home to be laid to rest. clara never remarried during those 63 years, and now at 96 years old, she was there to welcome him home, and we are clara gantt here with us today. [applause]

[cheers and applause] from theraw strength parents who have given their .ons and daughters to america earlier this year in my state of the union address, i spoke of a remarkable story and the grueling recovery of sergeant cory remsburg, and when he stood on the balcony, it reminded our entire nation. that was only part of the story.

close with a to story of one of his brothers in arms, who was killed i that same explosion. he was not a big guy, but his remembers that he was larger than life, always surrounded by friends and with a devastating smile. from aired the army young age and dressed up as a soldier the first time he went up for halloween and many halloween's after that. he meticulously arranged and rearranged g.i. joe's on the floor, and when we watched the twin towers fall that awful september day, he found his calling to serve his country. ranger who took care of his fellow soldiers like he did his own family. mom, i am your "

superman." rob was on his fifth deployment, and rob and cory were in kandahar, and that is when the bomb went off, and that is when this family made a sacrifice, the depth of which few of us will truly comprehend, and in dugyears since, wendy has deep. she kept in touch with cory, who she finally had a chance to meet this week, sharing memories of rob. marathon, and their youngest son, logan, whence to be just like rock. which means she will probably send another son into military service. is watching from indianapolis on a memorial in

america that has been made safe by her son's sacrifice, and every day, when she looks at the old photograph of her and rob at since on her dresser, she is reminded that even though he is gone, he will always inspire her and will always be her superman. for the parents who have lost a husbands and wives who have lost a partner, for the children who have lost a parent, this day and this place are solemn reminders of the extraordinary sacrifice they have made in our name. and today reminds us as well that these families and their comrades in arms, their service to our nation and doors -- endures. trulyare few who understand what it means to send a child into war or to watch a battle buddy give his life to save others.

on this memorial day and every the veterans and families we are sworn to look after, so here on these hallowed grounds, we rededicate ourselves to our sacred obligations to all who where america's uniforms and to the families who stand by them always that our troops will have the resources they need to do their job and that our nation will never stop searching for those who have gone missing or were held as prisoners of war. that, as we have been reminded in recent days, we must do more to keep faith with our veterans and their families to make sure they get the benefits they have earned and deserve. these americans have done their they asked nothing more that our country does ours now and for decades to calm. [applause]

the fallen patriots we memorialize today gave their last amount of devotion, not that we might mourn them, but we , so our nation might honor their sacrifice. they gave their lives so that we , so that ahours daughter might grow up to pursue her dreams, and that a wife might live free and secure, that a mother might raise her family in the land of peace and freedom . everything that we hold precious in this country was made possible by americans who gave because of them, our nation is stronger, safer, and will always remain a shining beacon of freedom for the rest of the world. may god bless the fallen and all

of those who serve. may god watch over their families. may god continue to bless the united states of america. [applause] >> all rise. and gentlemen, please remain standing for the playing of "taps" and for the benediction. ♪ ["taps" plays]

arms.er, brainerd will now give the benediction. prayer int time in this sacred place for our fallen loved ones. let us pray. lord, continue to strengthen our

president and all our leaders with energy and wisdom and send us on our way with strength for the journey that lay ahead. lord, bless our families and our comrades and help us to be ever mindful of the principles of equality,ustice, and which have long been our nation's heritage, given to us by our fallen comrades, our fallen heroes. finally, lord, we would be remiss if we did not pray for the safety of all of our brothers and sisters who serve our nation this day. teach us at all times to pray for their safe return with knowledge of a job well done. continue to bless this nation, the flag we and serve. now, may the spirit of god being near you and around you to preserve you and before you to guide you and behind you to justify you and above you to bless you for ever more.

go in peace, brothers and sisters. amen. >> amen. >> ladies and gentlemen, please remain in place until the president has departed and the colors are retired. ♪

[cheers and applause] ♪

♪

♪

♪ gentlemen, thank you for attending our program, and

enjoy the rest of your day. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] tonight, ap discussion about the impact of war on civilians. speakers include sarah shortt, who was one of the three american hikers taken hostage in iran, and an investigative journalist. this is part of the university of colorado's world affairs conference. we will have it tonight at 8:55 p.m. on c-span. >> thank you for your service. >> thank you. glad you are here. you are going to have a very nice surprise when you go into the memorial. it is beautiful. all right.

get my wife in here. where is she? >> hell are you doing? >> now, were you in the navy? >> i was in the marine corps. that was tough, so i had it easy. >> well, thank you for being here today. >> and thank you. all the service. >> former world war ii veteran and senator bob dole regularly greets visitors at the world war ii memorial in washington. it is part of the three-day holiday weekend on american history tv, tonight on c-span3. next, a symposium on ways to support u.s. soldiers returning from war. part of the discussion included cofounderf the aol

steve case, and the ceo of 7-eleven, who served in the army for five years. this is one hour. [applause] >> thank you. i just want to start out by saying thank you to each and every one of you that are in this room. professionals, our ceo's, our men and women who have worn the uniform. for individuals like yourself, i would not be able to stand here today. in august 2008, i was running a afghanistan, and on that particular day, there were two taliban individuals who decided to detonate a bomb right near the gear shift of my truck. crushedthe blast, it every bone in my face, every bone in my right arm, my right hand, my left hand, my hip, my

right knee, my shin, and my right foot. they were all crushed. i went to walter reed and spent a little bit of time there. i met some wonderful people who wanted to help out through , sngafit organizations being one of those organizations, and they helped me discover the game of golf. it is a frustrating game, it is, you may know, but i love it. i love the challenge. domotivated me to want to something, do something great. it was not up for me yet. it gave me that motivation i needed, and through the help of other nonprofit organizations, i have been able to continue that , and i was selected to play in the first war europa and back in 2011, i believe.

callne sterling gave me a one day at work, and i was so excited, i literally knocked my computer off the desk. after competing in that first warrior open, i made the decision i had to move to texas, and four short months later, i did, and because of the warrior open, i met the woman of my dreams, who, she is still putting up with me today, believe it or not, and i am a full-time student at the university of north texas. i am a senior. i am working full time at a company in fort worth that does a lot of military contracts. they do a lot of work for the government, so i get to stay with my brothers and sisters, which is awesome for me, so it is truly a blessing to have the help that i needed to really be successful in this transition

for me, but it is my pleasure to introduce to you the second panel that will be coming up now. kent. names, i am any sorry. i am from arkansas. it is my fault. [laughter] [applause] jake wood. [applause] joe depinto. [applause] mayor alvin brown. [applause] jean case.

>> thank you so much. let's have another woman up here, ok? we will be the bookends. we have talked quite a bit about the nonprofit sector and the private sector, and we have presented to fear from business, education, philanthropy, community, mayor, and the nonprofits, and we really want to take a deeper dive here on all of this, and, joe, i want to start with you. you are the ceo of 7-eleven. have been hiring veterans. you know the value of veterans, but i want you to talk about the inllenges might have had hiring those veterans. there are fantastic success stories, and you have had fantastic success stories, but what about integrating those in your work, the veterans in your ?orkforce

>> ok, the challenges, first and foremost, i agree with everything that was said earlier, from the gentleman from disney. we all have to take a look, and we all appreciate the military and with the men and women do for us, but we have to take a look at how we are impacting them. i had to take a look at my role and set a tone for the organization, and the tone for us is that we will hire military. because we appreciate what the military has done. we have gotten a lot of for that, including a magazine. >> where does that come from? >> it comes from me, but we have got many folks are out the so the challenges we ,ave, we are bringing folks in and about 5.25% of our employees are military, but we are now

bringing them into the franchise side, and what we are recognizing is that military veterans have a real entrepreneurial spirit, and the challenge in that is financing. we currently offer a 10% discount to military folks, and we are looking to go to 20%, and we have up to 75% to joint 7-eleven as an owner operator, but we cannot get financing. they cannot get financing. they do not have the dollars to make up that 25%, so that, to me, is the biggest obstacle. we have all talked about the values, the leadership, the can-do attitude, the mission orientation they bring. it really comes down to in our business dollars. case, you are ceo of the foundation, philanthropist.

what worries me as i look around , a littley, war weary bit tired of hearing about veterans, how did you keep this up with the waning public interest? he cut that is something we all have to admit, that there is waning public interest, and i think it will get worse. >> thank you for asking that. for those of you who do not have foundation, we like to say we like to invest in things to change the world, and we are not like others. we are literally six blocks from the white house, and literally in this case, we found it to be a tremendous benefit to have the opportunity to lead public -private sector initiatives, so your question is one, is their pessimism out there, is there opportunity, and as i sat here this morning and listened to the remarkable folks and then moved around during conversation time,

i am super optimistic, because i actually think the private sector has not been fully tapped for what the private sector is really good at. if you want to get in the ether of pop culture, if you want to use technology to drive a solution, you are usually not looking to government to do that, and while there have been remarkable leadership issues to take this forward, there really has not yet been a clarion call. and when ken fisher talked about people raising their right hand, i believe my colleagues in philanthropy and business and my andow citizens want to help what is lacking is a clarion call. where do i get started. and we heard questions from this

audience about where do i get started, so i am optimistic. 2.5 million is a very solid number. the peoplepercent of were online at all when we got started, and they were online one hour a week. it was not long before society had changed, and we are big believers in the power to leverage the private sector to do really big things. we have seen this happen with other things the nation should care about, where we have seen literally billions of dollars and millions of people come out to be a part of it, and the president talked this morning about the goal of the center here. it is not just dialogue and ideas. but taking some of those ideas to action. and it has not fully been taken to action yet. >> one of the things you have

is reallyr brown, focused jacksonville florida on this issue. you have the largest municipal population of veterans in florida, so there is a good reason you are doing that, at how have you really involve your community, your city? >> sure. i think, first of all, as mayor of the city of jackson, once you have served your country with his tension, you should be able to get out, get a job, and take care of your family. i am very humbled by our military. my family get to enjoy their life every day, so i thank god for that. in jacksonville, i made it a top priority, not only because we have a large presence, but it has a 14.1 billion dollar impact on our city. i made it a top priority by twointing an admiral, stars, recently retired, mated to a cabinet position.

he reports to rec league to the mayor, and, admiral, stand. to give you aant hand. and we have a full, full team of people. they are veterans. my director of public works is a veteran. my director of state affairs is a veteran, so it starts from the top. that we, i made sure forged this public-private partnership, and i launched a partnership with the jacksonville military coalition, and my goal was to put veterans back to work. those who were seeking jobs, so i partnered, and a young man that headed that up was with andsche bank, a veteran, when i came in office, we had zero partnering with the city,

and today, we have over 200 companies working with the city, putting veterans back to work. i think the private sector is the engine of our community, and i think there are some great opportunities that you can really leverage to get a return on investment for your community. thing, we launched a leap of valor, honoring the veterans not just on veterans day and having a job fair for veterans. you cannot show up to the job fair unless you have a job for veterans. i think it is important. having activities during that and was also important, then an annual summit on national issues and local issues, particularly local issues as it relates to veterans, and the concerns of the military veterans in my city, so, for example, last year, it was on suicide invention. we were to with the local colleges and universities, bringing all of the stakeholders together to address that issue.

we brought all of the ceo at -- the ceo's together at the hospitals. so your community is not only involved, they see veterans working, and that is successful. >> absolutely. >> that is the advantage of being mayor. you can bring attention. ceo, the cofounder and with team rubicon, just a terrific organization that helps with disaster relief, a group of veterans. i have met several of them in justnistan who are incredible people. welcome, jake. when you hear this, and you are trying to focus on veterans, and case isot -- jean seeing that she is optimistic, that she is not seeing waning

interest, do you see the same thing? >> i think some fear the 2018-2019 timeframe, the next five years post the afghanistan withdrawal and the need for funding. i think the cream of the crop, and we have all heard the number, 46,000 thrown around today as the number of nonprofit organizations with some charge in their mission to help veterans come home. in classhat the best right now, we are trying to figure out ways to do better by measuring and showing progress, and they were up there talking about work being done to prove the efficacy of education, the return on investment. >> the veterans. >> if you do not know that when by now, come on. and i think we need to do a better job about this. at the end of the day, the space is a very young space.

it is not like cancer research. it is not like a lot of other nonprofit spaces out there that have hundreds of years of history, that have sophisticated ways of measuring their progress. post-nine/11 vertical. ,here are hundreds before 9/11 but there are thousands that have sprung up afterwards, and there is an unprecedented focus so as aans issues now, vertical in the nonprofit sector, we have to do a better job of measuring the impact, and the best organizations, the ones that will survive, and the ones that will continue to grow past this five-your window on the ones that can prove the efficacy of their work, and that is troubling and particularly hard in a space within an organization that has resource constraints. it is very hard to get the measuring output,

to measuring progress, and often, people are ill advised on what outfits they are measuring. a lot of times, we find organizations that are measuring inputs as opposed to outputs, so there needs to be a sophistication in the space to go to an organization like the case foundation and make a case, no pun intended, for why their investment should be given to that organization, so there is a lot of growing in this space that needs to be done. i think with team you book on -- team rubicon, we have done a good job. we are only after your years old. we can show the economic output, the economic impact of our work in disaster zones. e, oklahoma, in moor we deployed veterans over five weeks in response to the tornado there, and we had an impact of

over $3.5 million back to the community because of the work that we did. seven-x return. that weg the impact have on veterans coming home, we are trying to partner with organizations with veterans and military families and some other organizations that do data well. we are a bunch of marine sergeants. we do not understand numbers and statistics, but there are really smart people out there who can do that, and we want to do that so that we continue to make the case, and others in this space need to do that also. >> i have been in a position, not only is disney my parent made a real it has commitment to veterans, not only in hiring veterans, but as abc television has made a commitment

to us covering veterans issues, andh, for me, is fantastic, i am also involved in the bob woodruff foundation. you may remember that my colleague, bob woodruff, was terribly injured in iraq in 2006, and he and his wife have devoted their lives to helping veterans, but one of the things the woodruff foundation does is what you are talking about, and we have worked with you as well, which is trying to find -- first of all, you have to raise the do duebut also to diligence about who to give it to and who is getting results, reallyt is something we do have to continue to measure. i want to also turn now before we go again on each of these ofics to the chancellor texas tech university system. we have heard a lot about education, and we have heard about how some of the veterans are using the money that they

, and am the g.i. bill lot of it seems to be going online. what can you do in the colleges? >> the first thing, you have got to put the resources in. >> you do have that accent. >> i do. my voice and my heart are in west texas. where the highway ends, the west begins. [laughter] we need a little humor in here. do notthe things, if you put the resources in, you are not going to get the rate of return, and the late leon cooper onetime said the vision and the ideas at the top will be throughout the organization. important. when i got to texas tech, we had one person. we have got 12 now. years, we have had a national football game. wounded warriors. this last year, we played kansas

state, and it was purple heart night. we had more people with the purple heart award that was on the field that had ever been assembled. 326. had a relative on the field, a purple heart winner in vietnam. chubby smith, a basketball coach. he got a purple heart in world war ii, so we emphasize. we have got 1600 veterans and dependents at texas tech. go,have got one place you and we do not care what your question is. we are going to be able to help you, and the average student that comes to texas tech as a veteran, the average is 26 hours that they transfer in. some of them they took, but a lot of them are things that they did when they were in the service. young persons a has been a medic, there is no

sense in making them repeat courses if they are going to nursing school. >> oh, i have heard of that problem. you can be a medic, and you can come out, -- >> you have to start all over. we do not have them start all over. they have been in a classroom, so i think that is something else, and the word gets out. when we graduate someone in the they have a camo, and we introduced them, and they get a standing ovation. every year for seven years. people, and wee appreciate their service. and we also have a program, and they are certified as green zone. they have a door hanger that goes on their door to let

students know that that is someone you can talk to about whatever problem, and we have a -- h of them among >> so what about the other colleges and universities? there is a woman i know who went to college, not in texas, and her graduation speech, in 2007, she started college in 2003 when the iraq war started. war in thatoned the entire commencement speech. it was never mentioned, which, to me, was pretty stunning, and some friends of mine noticed that. >> one of the things i would say, the amount of money that you are going to bring in, we

brought more money in because we have got more students that are paying tuition with the g.i. bill, and it has been something that is positive for us. it is positive for the veterans, but i think they are -- we talked about diversity in this country. if you love diversity, go into the military. bring veterans and. i tell my students -- i still teach one course -- that diversity is so important. i want to know veterans. i want to know people who can tell me what it was like in certain areas of work. for testing the united states, so i still come back to saying that you have to put the resources in. aggressive, and you have got to let people know. toldf our 12 staff members us a story. he bumped into one man. he looked like he was lost, and he said he was at texas tech,

and he wanted to apply for admission, and he talked, and the reason was he had seen a football game where we honored the military veterans, and, you know, when we had the purple heart come out, it is a big deal. i mean, we put on a great show. people leave, and they are proud , and we are proud of our students that are going into the military. we also introduce them separately. we have graduation ceremonies in areand december, and there a lot of people there, 12,000, 15 thousand, and they always get a standing ovation. it is a proud moment. >> i am sure it is, and i have seen many of those proud moments. i want to get back to

you. we were talking about the foundation. how do you measure the effectiveness of some of these programs that you are interested in, that the case foundation is interested in? agree, and iyou hasn't it -- hesitant to say it, if you are a veteran, and if you have a need, every day probably feels like a need. there is a lot of opportunities to do things. really, really good news is some of the research we saw. the worst thing for me is when you come together in an initiative, whether it is public, private, or just private, whatever, and you do not have the data. a lot of you out there participate in studies, so we are starting to get clear data now, which is really, really great news, because we know what we need to target, and then as

jake pointed out, if we can get smarter about where the impacts are with the investment, we need a small number of really, really great organizations having a significant impact, and i do think each organization struggles, and jake hit on it. it is not input. it is not how many people did you necessarily serve. it is what were the outcomes of do youou served, and how measure that? i can tell you, i am impressed with what i am already seeing as far as a focus of return on investment for many of the organizations that we know and have worked with, and i would say even that question of how do we define impact is a great way for the private sector to come along and play a role, because, trust me, the private sector really has got it down about how you look at return on investment, so even pro bono

support, if you are a nonprofit out there, and you say, ok, here is my data, but what do we need to see to know we are having an impact here? i think there is a huge opportunity for what i said call, but clarion where we will really be seeing some big differences is when we know the things are there that and be scaled, because i think that is where the private sector -- >> how do you scale? >> i will give you an example. who wasomebody we knew a health counselor, a psychologist. again, we are in the d.c. area, so we have a lot of military, and she was saying, we cannot get in. the system is overloaded. there is clearly a problem. more resources are needed than the system has. so she said, i just cannot handle this.

can i, as one person, do? so she came to us with a vision about what if we create a collaborative, what if we created a collaborative to ask each that was a great idea. when it was clear that the outcomes were there, we did sustainable funding. had 7000 mental health workers around the nation. we do a deal with google. there were virtual sessions. 7000 literally, it is unlimited. the connections that can take place between those who need it and those who can provide the services. >> it is really important. we have run enough experiments. we should be able to pick

winners and move forward. they've put together a good core team. we should have a system to identify who those organizations are. we should coalesce around those organizations. we have talked to fortune 500 companies. they have 58,000 stores. >> he is not so good with numbers. >> i want to add to that. >> please jump in. >> it is a great point. we given many different areas. it is across many different nonprofits. it is a mile wide and an inch deep.

if we can pull that together so that we may know where we are printer dollars -- putting our dollars, that is a big roadblock. if that is removed, we are seeing more money flowing. >> there is a fragmentation of resources. we need to be smarter about how we are investing the money. there could be an argument that we need more money. >> in a different way, connect the dots. how do you do this cooperation of all that you do? it is easy to say that we need this and we need that. that was a great explanation. when you are talking about transitioning from government and bringing these warriors out and taking care. >> i have seen success. >> i think leadership starts at

the top. it is how you make the case for veterans. city, i seein the it as helping me with my workforce. mayor is to make sure ist jacksonville, florida, the most military, veteran city in america. i say to all the military personnel and veterans, i meet with the commanders of recorder. we have briefings. i would say to them, when you get out, i want you to make jacksonville your home stop making a case so we can compete globally and in the marketplace. companies, ifhe you want to expand your company, come to jacksonville. we have the best, skilled workforce. i am doing something about it.

i am partnering with the private sector. we have some great companies. csx is one of the best companies to hire veterans. there are great companies. they invest back into the community. from the nonprofit side, a good example is a jacksonville foundation. we have the best nfl owner in the country. he committed $1 million to the city for five years. in november 2013, he opened a resource. he is helping veterans. city hall is a point of entry for veterans. we do every third thursday of the month. resume writing, interviewing skills. we are hands-on. they come to city hall and we make sure that we have resources. we have a return on investment stop the private sector season.

great example of what you can doing what you have done in your community will stop -- community. is that a typical story? fax no. there are a lot of people out there. we have to identify people who are willing to say yes. a lot of what i've heard today is centered on the reasons why we cannot do something. it is centered on the rules will know theve come to lieutenant over the last year. he was a commander in katrina all stop he said that rules are made for peacetime. during wartime, rules are made to be broken. we are literally in wartime. this is a national emergency. this issue of veteran integration. ptsd. this is a national emergency. it is time to break rules.

sharing ortion speaking backstage about how government -- people can take government money and do research and they are not mandated to share that. .e cannot use linkedin it is a private entity. i wrote my resume during my transition. i wrote my resume by hand, on a piece of paper stop i had somebody look at it for five minutes and i walked out of stop to know what happened to that resume? it was in the trashcan. >> that was your transition training? >> it was in the trashcan. i never saw again stop i was lucky because i already been to college and a resume workshop. i knew where i was going. think about that veteran who is 21 years old stop he entered the marine corps when he was 18 years old. he writes his resume down.

out allt wait to get stop what happens to that resume? maybe put some linkedin. is a ubiquitous platform that they can instantly apply to jobs from. there is nothing criminal about that. skills, not just going to college and higher education stop vocational skills are something that veterans need all stop >> those are mostly in community colleges. that ine of the benefit still go back to, they -- giving people credit for what they've done in the military. that is very important. to say is to go back to what president bush said. we hire folks for values and we teach them to be retailers. military, thethe way we trained was through

, ands, qualification monitoring folks into our organization and they want to be entrepreneurs, they go through training. skillsve a test of 60 that they have to master before we turn the keys over to them. we are not only offering an entrepreneurial opportunity, but we are trained them in a career. that is important. we have talked about a lot of things today. ptsd to integration to medical issues will stop it is all very important. but through my lens, it is simple. it is about providing opportunity. it means everything to everybody. they want opportunity. they do not want handouts.

they want a purpose and a mission. , the otherde jobs stuff will take a lot of work. it will work itself out. i truly believe that. call for me,y a but for many other organizations in the united days. this is something that should come from the top will stop we should work them immediately. it is simple. >> you are trying to get in before. that's the point i want to make is that i want to debunk this idea that the government cannot partner with companies in the private sector. i have been in my role 17 years. we have had numerous initiatives launched at the white house. you are absolutely right. we need to be clear in our goals and our language. we need to have a reason why it

makes sense for the private sector to be at the table. we launched a startup. time, we notice that we were declining as a nation. what could we do? together, with the public sector and the private sector, we linked arms and partners. we partnered with the kauffman foundation in kansas city. there were several federal agencies present. today, it is providing a terrific platform for veterans. we think they will be unbelievable assets at the start of community. just last weekend, startup weekend happens in san diego. it was focused on veterans. for $1 launch, we asked billion in corporate resources.

it was aimed at start up organizations. we got there in less than a year. to say,clarion call here is what we are about. join us. let's linked arms. we saw a tremendous response from the private sector and a willingness from the public sector to stop it makes sense to have the private sector be part of this. >> i love that you spoke about opportunity. i just want the opportunity and everyone here is helping provide that. i want to open up this panel to some questions from the audience stop we have lots of questions. not that yours was a great. >> this is more of a comment. >> standout, and could you say her name. >> i'm valerie. want to expand on everything

we have been talking about. my brother is a four-year marine. issue.this he applied for multiple jobs in the private sector and did everything in the book. he resorted to a lot of drinking and depression. he has been diagnosed with ptsd. he was in okinawa for three years. >> were they aware that? that's oh yes. >> you think that is the reason? >> that is the norm. this israel. these are real issues that are happening. i understand what they are doing at this level. the question is, how do you implement that down to that branch? down to the hiring manager? >> let's talk about that.

i had secretary shinseki come to jacksonville and we sat around the table. i brought the ceos from the hospital. we talked about it. then i brought the ceos from the private sector and we got together all stop part of it is and someone said it best earlier, you have to start from .he top with the ceos will you have to take the fear away. i have to be educated and warm will stop -- informed. >> there are people at the bottom who can talk about it. in my organization, i am a huge advocate for that. we have to get stories out about veterans. people listen. --the key is what is look working in jacksonville. bring people together to talk about the issues.

not running away from it. putting the issues on the table. ceo and thethat the director of hr and the managers are working together. for example, i mentioned earlier that we have a job there all stop the city host a job there fair.st you have to have a job. there's a lot of work that goes behind the scenes. that we making sure inform hr directors and we educate. it is about leadership in that amendment to provide opportunity for those veterans. it is hands-on. company,l you, every we have over 200. a are too small. you need to be engaged. i think one of the things to take away from this is, you can

and you doebsite, not have to be jacksonville to get a job. people are coming from all around the country. it is military 101. we are taking a myth out of transition to hire a veteran will st. i am selling it as an asset for my city. they provide leadership. >> it does not mean their huge frustrations and a long way to go all stop i go back to the comment that we all liked. one veteran at a time. that it isd make is at the top. we are getting folks throughout the organization in a spot to understand the military stop they become a catalyst. they understand that at all levels.

we have several franchise managers. he has hired several folks. they can communicate with these folks in their language. they can bring the men. they become our biggest advocate of selling our company to other military people. stop a tone at the top of you have to folks at all levels who understand and are committed will stop >> and want to take up that point was stop we are talking about the marvelous veterans out there was stop there are credible veterans one opportunity and some of them will challenges. those companies have to understand that stop sometimes, someone you hire, they might have ptsd. i'm sure you have seen that with employees. that's disabled veterans, i have not come across ptsd yet, but we

have employees of depression and cancer. come on. bring, about what they the skills that they bring, and why it is good for business will stop >> we every -- as a nation need to help. we have to find a way around the challenges. another question. i thank you. i'm the proud wife of a veteran of stop he was killed in afghanistan in 2011 stop i want to bring into the debate all the families who are left behind after these wars. i am to represent the thousands of widows who have lost their main source of income. we were married to warriors. we do not want to sit at home and cry all stop we want to be empowered. we want to take the american dream that our loved ones gave

everything for and do what we can all stop i want to bring that out all stop i have many friends who do not know what they will do now will stop they were stay-at-home moms and now they have to find out what careers they will have. also, i want to throw out with these eeoc or, one of the big problems i have come across that affects me more than anything is once we lose our loved ones and their killed in action, we still have military id. retailers orer organizations that will give military discounts. we are not eligible for military discounts. we are being pushed out of a community. just something to think about. most people don't know what to do with us. they do not deal is often stop i do not think about me, that i think about the mother of the

child that goes to a theme park or to a museum and they tell her, we are sorry, we do not know if that id means. thank you. [applause] >> those are excellent points. winky. i do want to throw that to the panel here. particularly about empowering the spouses and families. >> i was a marine sniper. i am very sorry for your loss. i cannot offer you a job were jobs,ed military spouses but if you want to come and serve in your husband's honor, we would love to have you. [applause]

>> i can offer a job. you can come see us and we will figure it out. we will work with you. >> the mayor will help to. >> absolutely. >> relocate to jacksonville. right now. we will make it happen. >> thank you so much for bringing that up of stop ceos and everyone should pay attention to your second point. that is an issue i was unaware of. >> i'm charlene start. i'm the executive draft or of hope for the brave. i have seen the success because of the proper resources that were invested. idea thatee with the

we have a sense of urgency. there is a short window of opportunity to help these veterans make a successful transition. my question is, how can we engage your leadership in helping to educate other foundations about the importance of focusing on this area during the next 5-7 years so we can make a real difference now versus spending the next 5-7 years trying to educate the 99% who have not served. >> i have not served. i feel grateful to be on the stage. wherever i go, and those that i talk to, and mention the support that we give. it is the strategic nature of investment.

i know he's in the audience. to take away from this, and hopefully we will all walk out with some of these questions, what happens? how did they turn into actions? president bush said at the beginning of the day. for me, as i have sat here, i've tried to make it clear. we can step up our game. we are missing something if i am only talking to my foundation colleagues. if i'm not talking about in front of an audience, there is a big idea here. going back to the 46,000, there are things out there already was to talk to theve young woman who spoke earlier. we have some folks we can connect her with. what are the big ideas?

how can we get traction? can we get something new here? in clarion call. if you are a citizen and you want to support, if you are a company and you want to support, or if you are a nonprofit was ready, willing, and able. they are ready to engage in discussion. >> a great point. >> i am with a veterans group. we have a veterans program. we are changing lives every single day.

we do not have a big microphone was stop we do right now. is, the argument can be made that much of the heavy lifting is coming at the local level. i wonder if you would all speak to that. how we can get our voices heard. >> we have a program at texas tech. veterans sign up left and right. it is a good program. peopleer thing is, told get -- they get just as much attention to a veteran. the equine program is great. >> we bring non-for profits together every quarter.

it helps me leverage my assets. we know what we are doing. to of the goals i had is work with all the right group to make it happen. over 200 homeless veterans off the street. we got them into jobs and homes. that is working with everybody. >> one more question. >> i have fun everybody's participation will stop i'm linda davis. on the board of student veterans of america.

i was honored to work for theident bush and implement commission recommendations. that wasn't the help of everybody in this room. fresh.ot start let's build on the legislature and structure that is in place under the previous administration. we have things that are there to integrate care from a session to survivors as we look at things like recovery care plans. if we look at things like natural -- national resource directories, that can be the one single source for these 46,000 different services to be -- and theinto it

dissemination opportunities stop it has to be done. thank you very much. >> not a question but a good way to end of stop i would quickly like to go down the road for some final.. -- thoughts. >> this is great. i appreciate president bush and all that he has done for this institution. this is cutting-edge. opportunity toe get a chance to tell you about what we are doing will stop we are proud of it. there is a wounded warrior game on television this year will stop >> one of the things we talk about in the veterans space is that we have to continue to peel back the layers of the onion. we have to look at homelessness and systematic issues. we have to think about what is

at the root of the problem. , thereputs for veterans is opportunity for returning service members. i challenge people to think deeper about the issue and get that sense of mission and purpose that the veteran may lose. impact that potentially has and some of the other issues we have been talking about, those are important issues. >> i thought the conversation we have a lotop of very influential people in this room all stop there are a lot of influential people that we connect with all stop we're letting them know the importance of -- what a veteran brings to an organization. we are going out and selling that. put veterans to work, we

will get the other stuff salt. >> thank you. >> i want to thank president bush for making this session happen all stop this is exactly what america is looking for. we have an opportunity to reeducate and warm america that veterans matter. it is not a handout. they can add to the bottom line. >> i work with mba students at georgetown. i have been taking them through something that was a 90's business book. it is called "crossing the chasm." is focused on consumer products and things that consumers adopt. it is moving people from, why do i need this to, i cannot live without this. i have to do something.

i think we have to cross the chasm. i feel like a broken record, but the 99% who care, it is most folks out there. i think we have to take seriously how do we cross the chasm? create a really significant movement here. i think the appetite is there. we just have to do the work. >> thank you to all. i will take away ideas of opportunity and traction. i think that is what this is about. traction. everything that happened today, we will connect the dots. thank you for the opportunity. we will turn it over.

>> tonight on c-span, we will show the memorial service from arlington national cemetery will we will have that 8:00 p.m. then a discussion of the impact of war on civilians. taking hostageer in iraq in 2009 stop this is part of the university of colorado conference. it is on c-span. a look at how tourism took shape. we would hear from a history professor. from the colorado center in

denver, this is on our. -- one hour. [applause] >> thank you for that introduction. i am honored to be speaking here. it is a strong personal it is a quickp story if you will indulge me. i was looking for a summer job. i wandered into the colorado heritage center of stop i asked the first random person i saw it was a security guard. i asked if there were any internships available. i had no clue how to go about doing this. he said, when you

go to the management department. that is how i met the curator of manuscripts. he is an unforgettable character. an unbelievable storehouse of knowledge. that summer, and for the next few years, he helped get my research on the way. and i had a career as a historian. i would like to publicly dedicate this top to him and express my deep gratitude for all that he has done to help me. i would like to thank everybody in the history of colorado. we will build greater awareness and concern. i would like to thank all of you for being here. we are talking