McManis Faulkner commends all U.S. military service men and women for their sacrifices at home and abroad. We will always be grateful for your service. We cannot thank you enough.
This Veteran’s Day, we celebrate our own Andrew Parkhurst, who served in the U.S. Navy from 2010-2015. Andrew rose from the rank of Ensign to become a Lieutenant in the Civil Engineer Corps, building the Navy’s infrastructure on base and in support of expeditionary operations abroad. He was assigned to units supporting humanitarian aid and major combat operation missions, building everything from runways to schools in southwest Asia, Japan, and South Korea.
After his military career, Andrew turned his attentions to law school and the legal profession. In looking back, he reflected upon his service and how it has benefitted his work as an attorney: “I think what translates most is the persistence and attention to detail that the military instills,” Andrew says. He explains that litigation over the course of several years requires “a high degree of persistence to stay engaged and to continually be an advocate for clients.” Litigation, not unlike military service,“requires many people taking small actions together to accomplish long-term broader goals over several years.”
Like almost every veteran, Andrew has stories to tell from his military career, including this one:
“I was the Emergency Management Officer onboard NSA Bahrain when the base fire department received a report of a suspicious package that had been delivered to a Marine Corps unit occupying a warehouse on the base. The staff had been processing packages when a puff of white chalky powder came out of one of the packages as it was opened. Fearing the powder could be a biological or chemical agent, the Marines in the warehouse were told to evacuate, while the staff was quarantined with the package. The hazmat team arrived and began taping off the area so none of the powder escaped the warehouse. After several hours, the hazmat personnel placed the package in a container and finished opening the box. Inside were large bags of candy and notes from an elementary school in Ohio wishing the Marines well on their deployment. One of the bags was full of Smarties candies that had been crushed during the package’s travels to the Middle East. So bottom line, NSA Bahrain and other operations in the Middle East were momentarily on high alert because of crushed Smarties powder.”
Andrew, we thank you for your service!