For a second year, Camp Bowie Inc. is devoting space on the historic thoroughfare to honor Fort Worth veterans during the month of July.
The Hometown Heroes Salute marks America’s independence and its enduring freedoms by honoring 41 veterans with banners recognizing their service to country.
It sits, of course, in an appropriate place, Camp Bowie, site of the former Army camp that housed the famed 36thInfantry Division, which played a key combat role in the final Allied offensive in the Champagne region of France during WWI.
“This tribute serves as a reminder of the strength, service, and resilience that make Fort Worth exceptional,” said Valor CEO Joseph DeWoody, whose company is one of three sponsors of the exhibit, joining Higginbotham and Intercity Investments. We’re deeply honored to help commemorate these heroes and the stories that continue to inspire us all.”
The veterans honored were all nominated by peers, friends, or neighbors.
First Command, a Fort Worth-based financial services firm focused on serving the military community, stands out with seven employees among the 41.
John Weitzer, the firm’s chief investment officer and EVP of wealth management, is among them.
Weitzer, a native of Wisconsin, joined the Army Reserve as a 17-year-old. Weitzer was inspired by his father, who flew fighter jets in the Air Force in the 1950s. Poor eyesight meant he wouldn’t follow in his father’s footsteps, step-by-step.
At 17, Weitzer needed his mother’s blessing — and signature — to join. He was too young to sign by himself.
“She sat me down at the dinner table and said, ‘Is this really what you want to do?’ I said, ‘Yes,’” Weitzer said.
In addition to a desire to emulate his father and serve his country, Weitzer also hoped to benefit from the GI Bill.
“I thought that I was mature enough at that point to make that decision. Although I can tell you when I first got down to basic training, I started [wondering], ‘Did I really make the right decision?’ Those drill sergeants can be very ‘welcoming’ and ‘warm’.”
He said that with a sense of humor well-developed through experience over the subsequent years.
Weitzer enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve as an 11B Infantryman. He completed both basic and infantry training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and rose through the ranks to become a sergeant. As a drill sergeant, he was entrusted with training soldiers in physical readiness, weapons proficiency, and battlefield fundamentals. He spent nine years in the Reserve.
Weitzer took advantage of the benefits he earned in the GI Bill. He earned a degree in history from Marquette and returned there to study law. While in law school, he served as the executive editor of the Marquette Law Review.
His experience as an enlisted man and then later in ROTC at Marquette clearly molded him. He recalls the “Iron Mike,” the statue at Fort Benning titled “Follow Me.” It depicts an infantry squad leader as dynamic, alert — with weapon in hand — leading his men forward as the decisive figure on the battlefield.
“In basic training, there was this [drill sergeant], an Irish guy from south Boston — 6-foot-4, really, really great leader,” said Weitzer. “He saw something in me. I don’t know why: I was 136 pounds soaking wet. But he saw that I was organized, I was disciplined, and he kind of made me kind of his second in charge as far as keeping on schedule and making sure we did the things we needed to do, making sure no one got left behind, that people got additional training if they needed it. That was kind of my first foray into leadership.”
Weitzer joined First Command in 2017. He has more than 30 years in the finance industry, beginning with Strong Capital Management in 1993. In the 12 years after it purchased Strong, Weitzer worked for Wells Fargo. There he held a number of positions, including VP of research at Wells Fargo Funds Management Group, senior investment manager and SVP at Wells Fargo Wealth Management, and wealth adviser and SVP at Wells Fargo Private Bank.
As chief investment officer, Weitzer is responsible for leading the investment management team and overseeing the asset management solutions program, a multibillion-dollar program.
Weitzer believes he has found his calling, working with servant leaders who “believe in something greater than themselves.” Members of the armed forces aren’t in it for the money.
“There’s not a lot of margin of error for people who serve in the military to achieve all their financial goals,” Weitzer said. “[First Command] starts working with them as soon as we possibly can so that they have a longtime horizon to meet their financial goals. And I’m really proud of that.”