Today is both Veterans Day and the 250th Anniversary of the United States Marine Corps. Semper Fi is the abbreviation of Semper Fidelis the motto of United States Marine Corp. It means: Always Faithful.

As the proud daughter of a proud “gyrene” (ok you need your ’40s lingo dictionary for that one), it is a great day.

Truth in advertising: my Dad served the Corp 43-45 in the Pacific. I have his diaries, letters (to his Army older brother and my mother) and photo scrap book to attest to the every day grind and horror of that duty. That he used all of that as a stepping stone to escape from coal mines to a college degree and a distinguished career in government service is his story.

My story and the story of the generation now coming to age are different. Together we have a challenge. Yes the current economic crisis that has yet to require most of us to eat fried bread for dinner. But it may more monumentally cut into our ability for joy; hope and trust with those go the complete loss of rationale action. Given the way we were raised, comparatively privileged, this could prove more devastating.

I say no. There are companies and brands that are finding ways to struggle out of difficulties without asking for help. I see people working at their limit and beyond to help those companies excel. Many individuals are able to pay their mortgages because they did their math and never exceeded the reality of their budgets.

We need government help for major companies to get through this. (Albeit without those company’s management being help up for accountability) We also need the rest of the world to be as aggressive as our own government in correcting economic blunders.

Most critically, and my most treasured gyrene would agree. We need to be always faithful to our own ability to deliver results and live accountability. We are not on Peleilu. We will survive and even thrive if we skip the panic part and move on to the ‘fix-it’ section of this diary. We may never have the scrapbooks of the Greatest Generation, but we can still live by their standards and perhaps in less bloody ways live up to their heroics.

Semper Fi

Kathy Sharpe, CEO

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