Meyer: America’s legacy built in our homes, not D.C.

This week, Americans will decide the leadership of our country for the next four years. Half of those people will end up disappointed no matter who wins the election, and some will try to argue that America’s legacy is doomed.

Only a small part of America’s legacy is based on who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It’s prominently dictated by the actions and decisions of hundreds of millions of people who build their own legacies one day at a time, regardless of their circumstances or who the president is.

The Greatest Generation taught us this 80 years ago when it defeated Germany and Japan. This was a generation that came of age during the Great Depression and fought with great courage and strength in America’s most daunting war. They could have given up any time, and I doubt we would have blamed them. Instead, they cemented their legacies one person at a time.

It took time for me to realize that I can be a contributor to changing the world around me. I returned from multiple military deployments, which resulted in the honor of being the first living Marine to receive the Medal of Honor in more than 40 years. However, I also struggle with depression and alcohol. It wasn’t until after many years of unintentionally living as a victim of the circumstances I had faced that I realized my legacy was my choice to make it what it was going to be.

I began writing about how people can find purpose in their lives, speaking to Marines who were struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and other challenges. This year, I’ve partnered with the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation to provide educational opportunities for America’s future leaders. The “If You Can, You Must” scholarship will raise $2 million to help the children of Marines in need, encouraging them to take ownership of their lives and setting them up to become our future leaders.

I’m always confident in America’s future because each of us can make a difference under any circumstances. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Black man in a time of segregation, Viktor Frankl survived a concentration camp, and Mother Teresa ministered in the slums of Calcutta.

Each of them changed the world — and the worlds of those around them. While you may not have a national holiday named after you or receive the Nobel Peace Prize, each of us has the opportunity to make a difference that will live on in the people we coach, the children we raise, and the students we teach. When you have the strength of purpose to know how and where you’re going to make a difference, that’s a huge advantage. When I speak to Marines, I tell them they’re the lucky ones — they get the opportunity to wear the nation’s cloth of the greatest organization on the planet. Their purpose is right in front of them.

The most enduring legacies were created by people who blew right past their circumstances. They didn’t ask why some misfortune befell them — they found what they could do about it.

Dakota Meyer is the 2024 Grand Marshal of the New York City Veterans Day parade. In 2011, he was the first Marine in more than 40 years to receive the Medal of Honor/InsideSources.