{"id":75,"date":"2014-08-29T03:01:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-29T03:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.diningtraveler.com\/2014\/08\/dinners-with-a-cause-veteran-farmer-program-with-arcadia.html"},"modified":"2015-04-03T19:31:17","modified_gmt":"2015-04-03T19:31:17","slug":"Arcadia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diningtraveler.com\/2014\/08\/Arcadia.html","title":{"rendered":"Dinners With a Cause: Veteran Farmer Program with Arcadia"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Many of you know me from the travel and food adventures I share on this blog. Many of those adventures have been lived as a Marine. I joined the Marine Corps in 1997 and it changed my life forever. I have spent seventeen years (my whole adult life) associated with the Marine Corps between active and reserve service (I’m a weekend warrior now). I am also a veteran from Operation Iraqi Freedom from my service in Baghdad in 2005. That experience was one of the biggest learning experiences in my life at so many levels. It was also an experience that put me in touch with humanity in ways I will never be able to explain to those who have never walked that path. On a hot August morning in 2005, I hopped on a C-130 from Baghdad to Kuwait to return home. I was relieved I was coming home to my family and friends safe but consumed with sadness and guilt as others did not have the same fate. Since then, I have vowed to use my time and influence to help others who may have not been as fortunate. <\/div>\n