#VeteranOfTheDay Marine Corps Veteran Kevin Schmiegel

Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Marine Corps Veteran Kevin Schmiegel, who continues to serve others through organizations like Operation Gratitude.

Marine Corps Veteran Kevin Schmiegel served 20 years in the Marine Corps, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. Under his leadership, Schmiegel prepared 600 Marines for war in Iraq as a battalion operations and executive officer. Additionally, he served as head of enlisted personnel assignments for the Marine Corps, military assistant to the special envoy for Middle East Regional Security, and as the principle aide to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe. During his service, he also redesigned the human resources development process for the Marine Corps to better fit their vision for today.

After retiring from the Marine Corps, Schmiegel continued to serve others, especially those who are dedicated to serving others. In 2011, Schmiegel founded Hiring Our Heroes, a nationwide campaign whose mission is to help veterans and military spouses find meaningful careers in the private sector. With Hiring Our Heroes, he helped host hiring fairs all over the country. Overall, Hiring Our Heroes has helped employ more than 120,000 veterans and military spouses. After that, Schmiegel served as president for ThanksUSA, a non-profit organization providing need-based educational and career opportunities for military families in America.

More recently, Schmiegel continues to serve others as CEO of Operation Gratitude. Operation Gratitude’s mission is to help “forge strong bonds between Americans and their Military and First Responder heroes through volunteer service projects, acts of gratitude, and meaningful engagements in communities nationwide.” They send more than 300,000 individually addressed care packages every year. Currently, they have sent 2,393,363 packages since its start in 2003.

Thank you for your service!

Nominate a Veteran for #VeteranOfTheDay

Do you want to light up the face of a special Veteran? Have you been wondering how to tell your Veteran they are special to you? VA’s #VeteranOfTheDay social media feature is an opportunity to highlight your Veteran and his/her service.

It’s easy to nominate a Veteran. All it takes is an email to newmedia@va.gov with as much information as you can put together, along with some good photos. Visit our blog post about nominating to learn how to create the best submission.

Contributors

Author: Danielle Versen

Editor: Barbie Carranza

Graphic artist: Jessica Hunsinger

Fact Checker: Brett Raffish