|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
***
I have spent most of my life around men and women who raised their right hand and swore an oath to defend this country.
I served 33 years in the United States Marine Corps. I fought alongside extraordinary Marines in Vietnam and finished my career commanding the Marine Forces Reserve. The Medal of Honor I wear belongs as much to the Marines who fought beside me as it ever has to me.
So when I talk about military service, I do so with enormous respect for anyone who has worn the uniform.
Nancy Lacore served our nation for 35 years in the United States Navy, and that service deserves recognition.
But this election is not a contest over who wore the highest rank. It is about who can best serve the people of South Carolina’s First Congressional District and who can get results for the service members, veterans and military families, and civilians in the Lowcountry.
That is why I am supporting Jenny Costa Honeycutt for Congress.
***
***
Our military exists for a clear purpose: to deter our enemies, fight when necessary and win.
During my career, I learned that everything else has to be secondary to the mission. Good commanders take care of their people, demand high standards and make certain everyone understands why they are there.
In the previous administration, however, our armed forces faced serious challenges. Recruiting suffered. Standards came under pressure. Too many young Americans stopped viewing military service as the calling it once was. At the same time, Washington allowed political and cultural battles to seep far too deeply into institutions that should be relentlessly focused on readiness, lethality and victory.
Our service members deserved better, and the top brass deserved accountability for their failures.
Namely, our service members deserved leaders focused on giving them the training, equipment and support necessary to accomplish the mission. Their spouses deserved a government that understood the sacrifices military families make. And when those men and women became veterans, they deserved a country that kept every promise made to them.
Those are not Republican or Democratic principles. They are American obligations. And fulfilling those obligations requires more than talking about service. It requires knowing the community you are asking to serve.
***
***
I have called the Lowcountry home for many years. From Joint Base Lindsey Graham, formerly Joint Base Charleston, to Parris Island, with a significant population of our veterans, reservists, military retirees and military families – service is woven into the fabric of this community.
As the daughter and granddaughter of veterans and as a lifelong Lowcountry resident, Jenny Costa Honeycutt not only understands that but has also been shaped by it.
Jenny understands the military families behind the gates at our installations, the veterans navigating a frustrating bureaucracy and the small businesses that employ them when their service ends. She understands the schools their children attend, the roads they drive and the communities they call home.
Most importantly, Jenny understands that representing them is about service, not status.
Congress needs members who will make the VA work for veterans instead of forcing veterans to fight the bureaucracy. We need leaders who will support military families and ensure our men and women in uniform have the resources necessary to accomplish their mission.
***
And we need leaders who will restore a simple principle throughout our armed forces: Mission first.
I learned a long time ago that leadership isn’t about the stars on your collar. It isn’t about the title beside your name. And it certainly isn’t about headlines.
Leadership is taking responsibility for the mission and taking care of the people entrusted to you.
That is the leadership I have known for years in Jenny Costa Honeycutt.
Jenny will fight for the men and women defending this nation, the veterans who defended it before them, and the spouses and children who sacrifice alongside them.
And Jenny will never forget that South Carolina’s First Congressional District is not a stepping stone or a convenient place to launch a political career. It is our home.
And I encourage our Lowcountry neighbors to join me in voting for Jenny Costa Honeycutt for Congress.
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Major General James E. Livingston, USMC (Ret.), is a recipient of the Medal of Honor and served more than 33 years in the United States Marine Corps, including as Commander of Marine Forces Reserve. He is a longtime resident of the Lowcountry.
***
SOUND OFF…
Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.
1 comment
Jenny will be the most capable person to hold that district seat since it was established – by far. She is a top-notch attorney; very smart, motivated, organized, relentless in pursuing her clients’ interests, but with well-balanced emotional intelligence and a strong moral compass. She is respected by all who know her in any meaningful degree. I hope she one day runs for Governor – she would be the best we’ve had since Campbell.