Volunteering: A Veteran’s Path to a Meaningful Retirement

This article is courtesy of my brother-in-law Doug. He has some great points to share about his adventures as a voluntee.

November 28, 2024 – I retired from the Marine Corps in 2005, and then fully retired from Defense industry related jobs in 2020, after a 43 year career. I stayed quite busy for a couple years after my retirement, planning and building a house for my kids and grandkids. Even after that I was staying plenty busy with family, hobbies, sports and the like. 

I knew that in my late 60’s and 70’s I would have the time, energy and desire to do some volunteer work; the question was what. I want to have a direct, personal impact on people or things that I care about, and I hoped to find opportunities that I was well qualified, or even uniquely qualified to do. 

Finding My Volunteer Mission – Paralyzed by So Many Choices