Honouring those who have served this Remembrance and Veterans' Day

Colleagues from around the world who have served in the military and armed forces reflect on their military experience and the contributions of earlier generations.

Wendell Snider, Helen Shropshall and Liz McKinney-Bennett are all Mott MacDonald colleagues and former members of the armed forces or military. Wendell served the United States Marine Corps and United States Air Force for a combined 29 years and 3 months. Helen served the UK's Royal Navy for 20 years and Liz served in the British Army for 34 years.

All three now bring their skills to Mott MacDonald working across defence and security, project management and the nuclear defence sector.

What does Veterans' Day and Remembrance Day mean to you?

Wendell: Veterans' Day give me a chance to reflect on the people I served with and those who served before and after me. It's also a reminder that behind every veteran is a family that served and sacrificed in its own way.

Helen: Remembrance to me is a chance to quietly take stock of all the things I have to be grateful for and to pause and remember those who did not get to live the lives that they would have chosen. In making the time to acknowledge the sacrifice of those in the First World War and subsequent wars and conflicts, I feel that I am holding a line of memory alive for those people lost. The two minute silence to me is a small but immensely powerful collective observance that everyone can join in with, regardless of where you are or what you are doing, this is a moment that you can give.

Liz: It’s an opportunity for reflection; not only to think of those who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice – friends, family and those unknown to me – but also self-reflection: am I still upholding the values instilled in me at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst of “Serve to Lead” in all aspects of my life? I believe we owe it to those who died or suffered to live our lives to the full.

As you reflect on your years of service, what are you proud of?

Wendell: I'm proud that I never missed a deployment when my country called. But what I value just as much are the people I had the opportunity to lead and serve alongside and the camaraderie that comes with being part of the profession of arms.

Liz: I was lucky enough to be “the first female” in a number of scenarios, so that sense of clearing the path for others is important to me. I’m extremely proud to see the young officer cadets I had the privilege to lead at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst blossom into brilliant officers – and thoroughly decent people.

Helen: I am particularly proud to have been the training manager (Submarine Service) serving in His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde. I am also personally proud to have made it to 20 years’ service and having navigated motherhood twice during that time. It has not always been easy to balance that especially when my husband (who was also in the Royal Navy) was away.

What experience or skill do you most value from your time in the military/armed forces?

Helen: Above all the military has given me resilience, both as an officer and as a wife and a mother in a military family. My experience has taught me that you can often find hidden strengths to keep going, face new challenges or overcome difficulty and, whenever possible, do it with a “can do attitude and a smile”!

Liz: Beyond the simple, but irrefutable principle of: “look after your people and get stuff done”, it’s the ability to analyse a situation or task; consider all courses of action and possible outcomes; decide; act; review. This works equally well for running combat missions and Mott MacDonald projects and programmes.

Wendell: Learning how to lead and take care of people. The military taught me that people will accomplish some pretty amazing things when they know you trust them, support them and are willing to stand beside them.

As a veteran, how important is it to continue to be part of a community that understands the experience of serving in the armed forces/military?

Liz: Within Mott MacDonald, I feel that not only is my actual military service recognised, but also the character, skills and leadership instilled in me by my service. I was thrilled and proud that our Armed Forces Programme won the “Culture and Values” category at this year’s “One Mott MacDonald” awards. That demonstrates that the business understands the value and contribution made to our business and society by the Armed Forces community.

Wendell: This is very important. You don’t have to have served in the same branch or had the same experiences to understand the bond. Sometimes it’s simply being around people who understand where you’ve been without having to explain it.

Helen: My husband is still serving so the Royal Navy remains intertwined throughout everything we do in our lives, in fact my son has just joined the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) at school, he joined the Royal Navy also, so we have another set of RN uniform in the house. I think after nearly 25 years we all just think of it as normal family life.

How has your time in the service shaped you into who you are today?

Wendell: After 29 years in uniform, the military is a big part of who I am. It taught me discipline and accountability, but more than anything, it taught me to take care of people and never ask someone to do something I wouldn’t be willing to do myself.

Helen: I think I am possibly a rather strange mix of tenacity and enthusiasm – I can normally find a bright side, dig deep and get things done.

Liz: It’s given me a sense of purpose, a commitment to service in whatever form; to my family, my community, my employer and colleagues. It’s also given me a husband (a former Royal Marines officer) and a family!

How do you encourage colleagues to consider Remembrance Day – especially for those who don't have a connection to the armed forces?

Helen: I understand that as the First World War slides further into the past it is harder for people to maybe understand the importance and significance of Remembrance Day, but to me that is why it is so important to observe it. If people wonder what it is and my actions encourage others to find out for themselves, then that is special. Remembrance Day can be a moment for anyone to think about those that have gone before, it doesn’t need to be a direct connection, just a thought to realise that without previous generations and sacrifice we would not be living the lives we are today.

To me the question of why Remembrance is important is truly captured within the poem For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon, now so intrinsically linked with Remembrance. Simply to remember those who gave their lives.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.