I’m proud to announce General Joe Dunford has joined Spirit of America’s Board of Advisors.

General Dunford had a distinguished 42-year career in the US Marine Corps, including serving as Commandant. He retired last year as the 19th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation’s highest-ranking military officer. He is an extraordinary, thoughtful, and principled leader. We are honored to have General Dunford join the Spirit of America team. Please watch this short video to hear why he did it.

I met then-Colonel Dunford at Camp Pendleton in December 2003. He was Chief of Staff to Major General Jim Mattis, the commander of the 1st Marine Division. They were the first military officers I ever met. At the time, Spirit of America was just me working out of a spare bedroom in my house in Los Angeles. We discussed how Spirit of America could help the Marines as they redeployed to Iraq in early 2004. That began an enduring partnership and friendship.

Thanks to a burst of citizen generosity we raised more than $60,000 in one week over the 2003 Christmas holiday. Spirit of America was able to provide the Marines with tons of medical supplies and school supplies to support their stability mission in Iraq. And, a television project in 2004, chronicled by Dan Henninger in The Wall Street Journal here and here, took our relationship with the Marines to a whole new level. Henninger called Spirit of America and the Marines “a coalition of the can do.”

In 2009, General Dunford invited me to be the guest of honor at the Marines Evening Parade in Washington, DC. Here he explains why. It was an incredibly moving experience. Watch this video and you’ll see what I mean. General Dunford and I are reviewing the Marines parade in this photo.

That honor inspired me to return to Spirit of America to lead the organization.

Earlier this month General Dunford spoke with our Board of Directors. The discussion focused on Spirit of America’s potential contribution to America. He said, “I believe that the opportunity is almost unlimited.” We look forward to working with General Dunford to make the most of that opportunity and to realize Spirit of America’s full potential in service to the nation.

All the best and Semper Fi,
Jim