In 2015, I built the app Field the Bern with a group of passionate volunteers from Reddit—an effort that caught the attention of major publications like The New York Times, Time, and The Wall Street Journal–and ultimately the Bernie campaign itself. I later helped rebuild Outvote (now Impactive), rearchitecting its backend and frontend to send and deliver tens of millions of messages for organizations like Planned Parenthood and the DCCC.

When I was 26, I enlisted in the Army and graduated from my Basic Combat Training as the Soldier-Leader of the Cycle. I then completed Officer Candidate School and served as a Signal officer with the California Army National Guard until 2019, including roles as Platoon Leader, Executive Officer, and Company Commander. I have never forgotten my oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic."

In my civilian life, I have trained in a wilderness survival instructor program, completing courses like basic survival, bushcraft, orienteering. I am a certified Wilderness First Responder. I believe in personal preparedness and community readiness and am committed to helping those around me to pass the torch of preparedness, particularly in the face of creeping fascism.

Our fight against fascism is deeply personal for me. My maternal grandmother was born in Königsberg, now Kaliningrad, which is today part of Russia—a kleptocratic fascist regime ruled by Vladimir Putin. In January 1945, at just 14 years old, she fled her home with her parents and younger sister as the Soviet Army advanced into East Prussia.

Refugee trains were overcrowded, and temperatures were so low that children often froze to death during the journey. My grandmother's family narrowly avoided boarding the MV Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship overloaded with over 10,000 refugees. They were turned away due to lack of space; they later learned the ship had been sunk by a Soviet submarine, killing more than 9,400 people in the deadliest maritime disaster in history. The Captain who sunk it was named a Hero of the Soviet Union. Though my grandmother's family escaped that grim fate, her brother died fighting for the Nazis in France.

On my father’s side, the fight for freedom is equally storied. My great-great-grandfather is said to have lost a finger fighting for the Union at Burnside's Bridge in Antietam. My great-grandfather fought for the United States in World War I. And my grandfather served in the Navy in the Pacific during World War II. His brother died serving in the Army Air Force over Europe. And while I was born at the Army hospital in Fort Hood, Texas to an Army dad, it was my own brother's commitment to fight for our country that ultimately led me to enlist.

My family lived through the horrors of fascism once. They fought it. They escaped it. And they have seen a house divided against itself and reunited once more. I am certain they would all be horrified to see their descendants experience the "Lost Cause" find its footing once more, to witness a fascist rebirth in America and its resurgence around the world. I am determined not to let history repeat itself. I am a happy warrior in this, our eternal fight for freedom.

I am certain I will find you by my side.