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Star Spangled Salute
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General Peter Pace, U. S. Marine Corps (Retired), served as the 16th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the first Marine to hold that position. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, General Pace commanded at every level, beginning as a Rifle Platoon Leader in Vietnam. Retiring in 2007 after a 40 year career, he and his wife Lynne moved to the Charlotte area in 2016.

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As executive vice president of stores, Joe McFarland leads the team of almost 300,000 Lowe's associates who interact with our customers every day. He is responsible for all stores, Pro, services, operations engineering, asset protection, real estate, facilities, aviation and global security. He joined Lowe's in 2018.

Joe has more than 25 years of retail operations experience. Before joining Lowe's, he served as executive vice president and chief customer officer at J.C. Penney Co., where he oversaw the company's 1,000 brick-and-mortar stores, operations and merchandise strategies to improve sales productivity and simplify operations while driving the customer experience. Previously, Joe spent 22 years at Home Depot Inc., where he served as president of the Northern division and then the Western division from 2007 to 2015, leading over 110,000 associates and producing record sales and profits. Joe began his retail career as an hourly sales associate and has held all field leadership roles. Regardless of his role, Joe's focus is on advocating for associates and exceeding customers' expectations while producing positive results.

Joe is a Gulf War and Desert Storm veteran, having served six years in the U.S. Marines. He serves on the boards of the Lisa Beth Gerstman Foundation, City of Hope Hardware/Homebuilding Industry and Building Homes for Heroes. In addition, he and his wife founded a nonprofit real estate company that provides affordable housing to families in need. He is a proven servant leader, both in business and in the community.

General Stanley McChrystal is the former commander of US and International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) Afghanistan and the former commander of the nation's premier military counter-terrorism force, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). He is best known for developing and implementing a comprehensive counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, and for creating a cohesive counter-terrorism organization that revolutionized the interagency operating culture. After retiring from the military, he co-founded McChrystal Group, is a senior fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, and is the author of two New York Times bestselling books: My Share of the Task - a Memoir, and Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World. He and his wife Annie live in Virginia.

Admiral William H. McRaven retired from the Navy in 2014 after more than 37 years of service. He last served as the ninth commander of the United States Special Operations Command. Upon retirement, he served as Chancellor of the University of Texas System from 2015 to 2018. His 2014 University of Texas commencement speech went viral and was subsequently turned into a New York Times bestseller titled "Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World." He and his wife, Georgeann, reside in Texas.