My Generation (Farrah)

The only son of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has joined the military, with a request to be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan.

An MBA with a bright future in the financial services industry, Patrick chose to serve his country instead. Why?

“It’s been in the back of my mind for some time,” said Patrick Daley, one of Mayor Daley’s four children, including Nora, Elizabeth and a second son, Kevin, who died. “I left West Point during my freshman year when I was 18 years old and always remembered their motto, ‘Duty, Honor and Country.’ But I was so young and not really old enough to understand what it really meant. But I know now.”

“I suppose when you’re 18 years old — as I was at West Point — you’re selfish and I didn’t want to devote 10 years to an uncertain future. It took me a while to learn that there’s also a virtue in selflessness. And I believe that virtue is to serve your country. And the values of West Point are still with me.”

So what turned him around?

“I suppose you could say that one defining moment was Sept. 11 and the nightmare at the World Trade Center. I had flown into New York the night before because I had worked there for Bear Stearns. But I was frustrated, I didn’t know how I could help. I didn’t know what I could do, so I gave blood and volunteered at a hospital.”

September 11 was a life changing moment for people in my generation all across the country. Some of us are still struggling to find out role in the post 9/11 world (like me). While others, like Patrick, have already figured it out.