Look Book V E T E R A N S D A Y 17 COLOR guard U.S. Army Reserve 2nd Medical Brigade (San Pablo, CA) COLOR guard MASTER of Ceremony James A. Rapier, Maintenance Supervisor Master Sergeant U.S. Air Force (38 years of service) GENERAL manager “Our nation has long stood as a beacon of hope and opportunity, and few embody that spirit here at home and beyond our borders more than the members of our Armed Forces.” Michael Hursh, Staff Sergeant U.S. Air Force & California Air National Guard FEATURED speaker manager U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Keni Thomas was deployed to Mogadishu Somalia, with Bravo Company of the 3rd Ranger Battalion, as part of a special operations package called Task Force Ranger. Their October 1993 mission was to find and capture a criminal warlord named Mohammed Farrah Aideed. During an extraction, Thomas and his fellow Rangers were caught in an 18 hour fire fight that ultimately claimed the lives of 19 Americans and wounded 78 others. It was the worst urban combat battle since WWII and would later be recounted in the highly successful book and movie Black Hawk Down. SSG Thomas now draws from his personal experiences from Keni Thomas that battle to speak about the importance of leadership in everyday life. U.S. Army Staff Sergeant SSG Thomas did not want a young machine gunner named Private David Floyd in his Ranger unit. However, Pte. Floyd became a hero in the “Black Hawk Down” battle when he saved the lives of Thomas and several soldiers by taking out the enemy moments before his Ranger unit would have likely been killed. “When someone is not as good as us we have a tendency to put distance between us.” “There are people to your left and to your right who are counting on you and it’s up to you to deliver. But you will only be as good as you prepared yourself to be.” To our Veterans & Active Service Members… We Thank You AC Transit collectively wishes to thank: Staff Sargent Keni Thomas U.S. Army Reserve 2nd Medical Brigade Color Guard (San Pablo, CA) AC Transit’s Veteran’s Day Committee The Training & Education Center AC Transit’s Facilities Staff AC Transit’s Information Technology Staff AC Transit’s Print Shop AC Transit’s Second Annual commemoration of Veteran’s Day was captured on video. To hear guest speaker Keni Thomas’s inspirational story of turning tragedy to triumph and how those lessons learned can prove beneficial to your professional success... Log onto MyACT: look for the two-part video link on the front page..