David Decker

David Decker, an Emmett, Idaho native, attended and graduated from the University of Idaho in 1971 with a bachelor's in business. Upon graduation, he accepted a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps via the NROTC program at the U of I. David served as an artillery officer in a variety of capacities in the Far East and the states for eight years. His Far East experience put him on ships off the coast of Vietnam from 1972 through 1973.

Upon returning from his overseas deployment, he saw that Vietnam veterans were often derided and not welcomed home. Many, including himself, were met with outright hostility for having served a mission that was thrust upon them. In fact, many hid their service from the public. However with the advent of the War on Terror, there was a change in the acceptance of veterans. The public seemed to accept and welcome those men and women who had served and many were put into a situation that would be life altering for having answered their country’s call to service.

When David learned of Operation Education, he was excited to realize that the current crop of veterans and spouses were being welcomed back to their homes and communities. As well as excited that doors were being opened that would allow them to reenter civilian life and lead productive lives. He was also impressed to learn that OpEd was going to address something long overdue: support of the veterans' spouses. David understands that spouses run the family while the servicemember is deployed. That means the spouse is responsible for conducting the family business completely, making the day to day decisions on children, finances, travel, etc. When the military member returns, "all too often, a different person walks in the door," says David. OpEd was created to assist the veteran and spouse.

The original expectation of OpEd was to address the many physical challenges of injured vets. What was learned was that an even more insidious enemy came home with the veteran — Post Traumatic Stress and/or Traumatic Brain Injury. These issues present specific challenges for the vet and their spouse although not always physical. OpEd offers a dedicated program of assistance to address these issues for the vet or the spouse with all the help needed to pursue a degree that will allow for the reintegration into a successful civilian life.

For these reasons David has been and continues to be a dedicated supporter of Operation Education