November 17, 2023
Honoring Our Veterans
Honoring Our Veterans
We're proud to honor our team members who bravely served our country and now continue to build a better future. Our special thanks goes towards these veterans among us for their dedicated service and invaluable contributions to our company. Thank you for your commitment and sacrifice.
Read on to see how serving has impacted their lives:
"The service taught me discipline and how to show respect. I learned when you're ready to quit you can overpower that mindset and keep going. And while I miss the camaraderie from the service, I also feel like I have it here at Modern Railway Systems." - Matt Oaks, US Marine Corps Veteran and Safety Engineer on the NICTD project
"My time in the military affects me daily. It taught me disciple, respect, and how to deal with all kinds of personalities. I learned to rely on my inner strength and do things I never thought I could. I use my experience to push through things and be present every day." - Don Carlson, Army Veteran and Systems Test Engineer on NICTD Project
"My time in the service taught me responsibility & respect. I learned that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. I remember bootcamp camaraderie the most. I'm grateful for attitude it gave me & most of all, the retirement." - Steve Williams, US Marine Corps Veteran and Manager of Construction on the Brightline Zone 3 Project
"The military taught me about my limits: physically and mentally. I learned to listen more, talk less, and observe everything. The same goes for showing up to the job site with multiple trades and actives going on simultaneously. I find that by watching the interactions between craft you spot things you may not have noticed had you stayed locked into the single task. I met people from all over the country and from all over the world. It was an eye-opening experience meeting all these different types of people. I quickly learned that we have more similarities than differences. Getting separated from your family is difficult, but despite all the negatives I believe that 99% of the people who raise their right hand and enlist in the US Armed Forces are there for the right reasons, and if I were asked to do it all over again, I would." - Garrett Vargas, Navy Veteran and office/field engineer on the North Coast Corridor project
"What I remember most about the service was the comraderie with my fellow Marines. I also enjoyed getting to see other countries. The biggest thing that I learned was to be more resilient. There may be a lot of bad in life but you take some good out of it. That has taught me to appreciate the long hours of hard work because I have a good job and I can provide for my family. I would say what I miss most is the people." - Ronny Vaiau, Marine Veteran, an active member of the WA National Guard, and carpenter on the Redmond Link Extension project