Jim Ward
Marine Corps Veteran
Executive VP and Chief
Investment Officer
“My time in the Marine Corps was about service over self. When I look at the RPOA Core Values, I am touched by the same sense of service: Service to the employees of RPOA and even more importantly, service to our clients. Marines are united by those before us who have given so much of themselves and conducted themselves to a standard that we all aspire to as Marines and as Americans. Similarly, we at RPOA seek to follow Ken’s (Moraif’s) example and to create that standard for ourselves and one another.”
Jordan Roach
Army Veteran, West Point graduate
CRPC®
“Veterans Day is certainly a special day for me and my family, as all I wanted to do starting my junior year of high school was fight in the Global War on Terror on the front lines. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity after becoming an Infantry Officer upon my graduation from West Point. Unfortunately, after nearly three years of service, I was medically discharged due to multiple knee surgeries. I expected and desired a life of military service, so when I left the Army, I wanted to continue in a career where I felt like what I did was meaningful, full of purpose and continued service in some way. To me, financial services was the perfect fit where each day I feel like what I do matters to others, and I am continuing to make a difference.”
Hunter Healy
Marine Corps Veteran
CRPC®
Truthfully, I kind of consider Veterans Day to be the day that happens to be after the Marine Corps birthday. I always wanted to be in the military and my time was cut short with a medical separation. I was a reservist but trained quite a lot. That time gave me a baseline for how to run my life for the rest of my life. That means to be competent and competitive at everything you do, be professional and always be a leader even when you’re following, look out for people around you. I know what my body does at extreme cold/heat and with a 85 lb pack at 10000ft, I know my emotions always have to be controlled and I have to be focused, but more than that I know everything I do has a standard. I think about and appreciate the men who have dedicated their lives or whose lives were changed irreparably in order to maintain our freedom and democracy and maintaining a country where we don’t have wars and strife and elections aren’t corrupt. I think of my friends who were killed or killed themselves over what happened in defense of that idea.”
Melba Whitehead
Navy Reservist
Director of First Impressions
“First, let me start by saying I am a service member and not a veteran. I am a CB (construction battalion). I served for the Navy Reserves for a total of 8 years as a builder. Although I volunteered for deployment, our country decided I should be with my children being that I am a single mother instead of serving with my unit. I’m grateful to be an American and will always be willing to fight to protect our freedoms.”
Angie Alexander
Director of Corporate Communications
“On Veterans Day, I honor Sam Kogutt, aka “PopPop.” He lived an extraordinary life, but lost his fight against Alzheimer’s on December 9, 2020, his 95th birthday. He was a first-generation American who lived the “American dream.” The son of Holocaust survivors, at the age of 18, PopPop joined the Army so he could fight in World War II. His troop liberated one of the last of the Nazi concentration camps in Germany.”
Aaron McDaniel
Marketing Analyst
“Every year we have an opportunity to celebrate and commemorate all the brave men and women that have served or currently serve in our nation’s military. Veterans Day is a reminder to us all that our freedom is not without cost. It is not something that is simply given. It is something that has been earned. Earned through the willingness of some to give their lives so that others might live. Earned with sacrifices made every day by those who serve and the families of those who serve. Veterans day is our opportunity to honor all those who have paid a price for us all. A price that grants us all the freedoms & liberties we experience every day.”
Laura Black
Marketing Copywriter/Editor
“Veterans Day is an important day in my family. I remember as a young girl, going to my grandparents’ house and seeing my grandfather’s medals, the black and white pictures of him with his fellow crewmembers, and hearing his stories of the family he gained as a Sergeant in the Army Air Corps in World War II. My dad was in the Army serving in the Vietnam War, having left a possible baseball career to serve his country. My husband joined the Navy shortly after high school. Veterans Day is a reminder of all that has been sacrificed by these brave ones who continue to inspire me in my daily life.”
Robert Tunnell
Marine Veteran | CRPC® CFP®
“Veterans Day is a reminder that freedom isn’t free, it comes with sacrifice. It has always been a big deal in my home. My grandfather served during WWII, four of my uncles during Vietnam, my brother is a former Marine, and the majority of my cousins have served as well. My daughter served as a combat medic with the Army’s 1st Cavalry in Iraq, and my son and his wife are active-duty Air Force. I am a Marine veteran, I served during the Persian Gulf War, once in Kuwait, then again aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, off the coast of Kuwait. While in the Persian Gulf, I was redeployed to Mogadishu, Somalia. We celebrate Veterans Day (Nov.11th) and the Marine Corps Birthday (Nov. 10th) at the same time; from the time my kids were young, we would always celebrate every year with cake, balloons, and streamers. When my daughter first learned to talk, she would call Veterans Day, “Feterans Day”; so, the kids have always referred to this time as “Feterans Day”. Even now that the kids have grown up; my daughter calls and we wish each other a Happy Feterans Day! I enjoyed my time as a Marine. When interacting with clients or prospects, I can easily connect with those that have served; we find commonalities, and swap stories. When I think about how it has shaped who I am today, I think of certain mannerisms I still possess today. I think of honor and camaraderie, but also how being a Marine has instilled motivation and grit to accomplish just about anything I set my mind to. I am proud that I served as a US Marine!”
Hunter Healy
Marine Corps Veteran | CRPC®
Truthfully, I kind of consider Veterans Day to be the day that happens to be after the Marine Corps birthday. I always wanted to be in the military and my time was cut short with a medical separation. I was a reservist but trained quite a lot. That time gave me a baseline for how to run my life for the rest of my life. That means to be competent and competitive at everything you do, be professional and always be a leader even when you’re following, look out for people around you. I know what my body does at extreme cold/heat and with a 85lb pack at 10000ft, I know my emotions always have to be controlled and I have to be focused, but more than that I know everything I do has a standard. I think about and appreciate the men who have dedicated their lives or whose lives were changed irreparably in order to maintain our freedom and democracy and maintaining a country where we don’t have wars and strife and elections aren’t corrupt. I think of my friends who were killed or killed themselves over what happened in defense of that idea.”