September 26, 2009 - My journey back to California from North Carolina started with a 0500 wake up call. I felt refreshed, energized and very pleased with the visit at our third center ready to open November 11, 2009 in honor of Veterans Day. Pictured is Levi Samuels our VP of Family Readiness and property owner Ray Burnette

My first stop before I arrived to Fayatteville airport for a 1437 departure, was with Levi Samuels, our newly named Vice President of Family Readiness. We connected at 0715 for breakfast and covered the details of my trip and discussed our D-35 milestone. We are on track and expecting a good effort. The community in the Fort Bragg area are amazing and are taking ownership of their center.

I headed to the airport around noon to get settled in for the trip back home. All was going well, I did my normal routine, did some research, made some calls and contemplated plans for the next day.

My flight from Fayatteville was on time and I knew my lay over at Charlotte was a couple of hours and it afforded me the opportunity to review my thoughts on the week at Fort Bragg. Time flew by.

The plane that was scheduled for us arrived about a hour prior to our departure only to learn it was struck by lightning and was punctured. It was blessing all arrived safely. However, that meant an hour delay and if you have traveled and this happens, that usually turns into hours delay.

An 1837 departure turned into a 2100 departure. I knew my patience and tolerance needed checking so this was a good time for a quality check and I proceeded to work on "Destination: Refuse to Fail" how appropriate and timely.
While working on this, I get an email telling me my flight has changed with a 0750 departure on Sunday. I smiled and confirmed that this was truly testing my tolerance and patience. I closed my laptop, picked up my checked in luggage and picked up my new ticket for the morning. Another 0500 start day to try this again.

I wanted to share with you this part of my journey and to introduce to you our "Refuse to Fail Landscape". And I figure this was a great time to post it after enjoying this adventure back home.

We have 48 Veteran Learners that we vetted and they have taken on the task to Refuse to Fail. Some have posted their blogs and some have not and some are contemplating their destination. The Refuse to Fail Landscape is for all to enjoy and to realize when it comes down to where the rubber hits the road, we all need a script to consider to revitalize what we know we are capable of.

To learn about the Refuse to Fail Landscape just visit this link  Destination: Refuse To Fail.

I have an endless inventory of energy and I am fueled by you, there is no question about that. You have touched my life and in return I will REFUSE TO FAIL to achieve my aim to eradicate the notion of a homeless Veteran by the year 2035!
My patience and tolerance are in check, I am here to serve you 24/7, no matter where I am. I will offer you my time and resources to enrich your value and empower you so that you can empower others to reach out to Veterans of all eras so that we can influence a change and let no Veteran go homeless. They have all earned our support and alone we will fail, but together, there is no obstacle we cannot overcome. Semper Fi!

Don't forget to  purchase your My Warrior Candle and keep the light burning! In doing so, we are able to open more centers across the nation!

P.S. If you haven't registered with our online community please do so by clicking Where Communities Serve Veterans. We have three types of registrations, Veteran, Grassroots and Business and each have multiple levels, register with the type and level that best suits you. In doing so your registration is a resounding vote to serve our Veterans!

"We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire...
give us the tools and we will finish the job!"
-Sir Winston Churchill