I downplayed the fact that I was a Medal recipient until recently. I was too busy being a naval officer, and I certainly did not want to let having t… - Thomas G. Kelley

I've found in this job something I never stopped to think about before: Someone who serves in the military has no control over whether there's a war or no, so this state and all states treat their wartime vets different from how they treat their peacetime vets, which I think is fundamentally unfair. I'm trying to get that changed, so that anybody who serves is treated the same way when it comes to benefits. The Cold War was won by men and women who were not considered wartime veterans, tracking their subs, doing sonar, playing cat-and-mouse type of games.

It may sound as though I joined the Navy on a whim because I didn't have any other career options, and that wouldn't be entirely false, but it's not entirely true either. My love of the sea began in early childhood, and a sense of adventure had pushed me to join the sea service even before college. I'd been imbued with the importance of service by my parents and church my entire life. This was simply the inevitable coming to fruition.

I don't consider the Medal my personal property. As a recipient, I feel I am wearing it to represent all the men and women who have served over the years with the same dedication and courage. Having said that, it did make me very awre of my responsibilities as a recipient, talking to kids, trying to instill the values of service, courage, honor, and duty, so it's been a very good part of my life. Personally and professionally it added a dimension. I certainly don't dwell on events of thirty-one years ago. That was thirty minutes out of my life and it came and went and life goes on. I've led a wonderful life since then.