This is a longer email about saying goodbye, but if you don’t have time to read through, I would deeply appreciate a contribution to power our campaign.
After nearly a century of operation, Valley Forge Military Academy — the place where I went to school and grew from an angry, complicated child to a confident young man — has closed.
When my mother first sent me to the Forge, she saw military school as a last resort in response to a seemingly endless chain of misbehavior, both at home and at school. At age 11, I’d already felt handcuffs on my wrists. I was not on a path to success.
There was no overnight miracle when I started school there, but slowly, things changed. I learned about honor, code, and service. I started to take an interest in campus life, academics, and leadership positions — and I rose up the ranks and became a first captain in command of around 800 cadets.
After graduation, I went on to study at Johns Hopkins and Oxford, deployed to Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne Division, ran one of the largest poverty-fighting organizations in the country, and now, I serve as the 63rd governor of Maryland and the first Black governor in the history of my state.
What saddens me most isn’t losing a place I once called home. My memories will forever live on with me.
It saddens me that other young men like me will have one fewer avenue to challenge themselves and build their own pathway to success.
At a time where our young men and boys are falling behind and feeling isolated, we have to offer more paths for connection and engagement.
I know Valley Forge Military Academy did that for me, and I’m determined to find ways to do that for young Marylanders today.
That includes the Maryland Corps and Service Year Option — the first statewide program in the country to give high school graduates a year of paid, full-time community service on the path to college or a career.
We have to help young Marylanders find the thing that guides them on a pathway to success and that inspires them to serve. If you support that mission, I would appreciate a donation to keep me in the fight as Maryland's governor today.
Elevate,
Wes
Use of military rank, job titles, and photographs in uniform do not imply endorsement from the Department of Defense.
