John St. Leger recalls the hostile reception with which some returning soldiers were met during the Vietnam era. And he made a vow: “I determined then that if I ever had the chance, I would treat veterans better and give them a fair chance.” Today, more than half the staff of the distribution company he founded – Marathon Medical, Aurora, Colo. – are former servicemen and servicewomen.
St. Leger himself served in the U.S. Air Force from 1971 to 1975 as a SERE instructor. SERE stands for “Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape,” and is intended to help downed airmen and airwomen survive a POW experience or a battle against hostile elements, including intense heat, cold, lack of food and water.
He has built igloos north of the Arctic Circle, and worked with soldiers in the jungle, desert and ocean. His specialty was scuba diving. After the service, he taught desert survival in temperatures approaching or exceeding 150 degrees, and served a military advisor to the Royal Saudi Arabian Air Force. “I’ve done a lot of different stuff,” he says.
He began his career in medical distribution in 1990, and in 2002, founded Marathon Medical. Because his T-12 vertebra was compressed from a fall, and because he blew out his left knee as a SERE instructor, Marathon is a “Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business” certified business.
Marathon’s Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts require that he be compliant with the Trade Agreements Act, which says that U.S. government entities, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs National Acquisition Center, must buy products made in the United States or other designated countries. “We try to source products that are USA-made if at all possible, and if the products are competitive in price,” he says.
Since its founding, Marathon Medical has implemented a “Hire Vets First” program. When interviewing a veteran, St. Leger looks for people who learned – and implement – the concepts of command structure and responsibility. He looks for people who are objective-oriented, and who know how to define the steps necessary to reach that objective.
“Probably the biggest thing is that they understand ‘team,’” he says. That’s something veterans understand. “Take a Navy SEAL as an example. As they’re starting to reach their objective, they will argue about who should run point, because they would rather take a bullet themselves than see their buddy take one.”
In his business, St. Leger carries on a tradition typically reserved for the military – the giving of challenge coins. Challenge coins are minted with specific information about one’s organization, and is given as a sign of recognition or gratitude, he explains. It also helps the veteran prove membership when challenged.
Marathon Medical’s challenge coins “honor VA personnel who go above and beyond for the veteran patient, or to honor veterans and those who also go above and beyond to help me in my mission to run Marathon Medical to benefit the veteran patient and to be able to hire veterans.” Among those who have such challenge coins is NDC Vice President of Business Development Dave Rose, whom St. Leger calls “an honored veteran and a significant part of our success in our relationship with NDC.
“It was my honor to be able to present him with a coin to show my gratitude and respect.”
Jon Taylor, CMSgt USAF Ret says
Is this the same John St Leger that was with Northrop Aircraft Services, Project Peace Hawk, King Abdul Aziz Air Base, Saudi Arabia ?