This essay was originally posted on LinkedIn and is shared here with permission from the author.
Today thousands of people lost their jobs through a reduction in force at HHS. Behind each of those job cuts is a person with a story of service. It is easy to lose sight of them in the bigger news story when entire offices are being closed, but I think it's important to look for these people - like those in my own family, who chose public service.
My father was sixteen when he enlisted in the Army. It was 1939 and Pearl Harbor was still two years away, but with war already raging in Europe, my father believed American involvement was inevitable. He never really spoke about his time in the war with me. That wasn't his style. But I knew he was proud that he had had the chance to serve.
After the war ended, and after some brief interludes in other careers including as a jazz musician, my father returned to government service and spent years working for the Post Office, the Pentagon, and eventually the State Department. He was even for a period the president of his local AFGE.
My wife grew up in a family where both her mom and dad served in the Army. One of her brothers served in the Marines and he now works for the Federal government, as does his wife. My wife's other brother also works for the government, and so does his wife.
Both my children wish to enter public service as well. My daughter wants to go into public health, and my son is already serving our community as an Advanced EMT. He is working on his paramedic certification and should be done this summer.
Across our family we have worked a couple hundred years total in service to our nation, our communities, and our neighbors. I don't tell you this to brag, or because I think we are special or out of the ordinary. Far from it in fact.
What I found when I joined USDS was my family's story is not unique at all. It was in fact representative. Many people in government come from families where more than one person, and sometimes more than one generation, have served the public. Coworkers spoke with pride about the work their spouse did at DHS, or their brother did in the Forestry Service, or their parent did at the State Department.
I worked with people at the CDC who had gone abroad after college and dug latrines in Central America or distributed malaria nets in Africa. They taught English in Indonesia. They went to Africa in order to prevent the spread of Marburg or Ebola. They deployed with FEMA in search and rescue efforts after natural disasters and deployed aid.
They weren't doing it because they'd get rich. They weren't doing it to become famous. Sure, sometimes they did it because it was a fun adventure.
They saw some need that was going unmet and dared to meet it. They asked "If not me, then who?"
These are the people who were laid off today.
I mean this sincerely when I say, you all are my heroes. I remain in awe of the hard work you did for the public.
I am sorry for what happened to you all today. You did not deserve this.