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[embedlycard url="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/11/07/veterans-day-numbers-dwindling-should-military-civilian-service-required/795893001/"]

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Watch and share as Gen. (Ret.) Stan McChrystal make the case for expanding, not eliminating, national service.  

In the first episode of NationSwell’s 8-part mini documentary series on service years, the Chair of our Board, Gen. (Ret.) Stan McChrystal, shares his personal experience with service — both in and out of uniform.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 9, 2017

CONTACT: Aly Ferguson, [email protected]

200 Flag and General Officers Sign Pledge to Make A Year of National Service a Common Opportunity for all Young Americans

Service Year Alliance is re-releasing the pledge, co-sponsored by eight leading military and veterans organizations, in response to potential cuts to national service.

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, in response to reports on the potential elimination of national service programs like AmeriCorps in the Administration’s budget proposal, Service Year Alliance re-released its Enlisting America Pledge. The Pledge has been signed by 200 flag and general officers and more than 50 senior enlisted veterans of the US military in support of making a year of national service a common expectation and opportunity for all young Americans.

In 1838, a 28-year-old Abraham Lincoln declared that the greatest threat facing America comes not from a foreign invader:

“If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”

The thought that Americans, themselves, may destroy the ideals for which so many have sacrificed is sobering. Trust among Americans is at its lowest levels in generations, and stereotyping and prejudice have become substitutes for knowing and understanding one another as individuals.