Growing up in Lynn, I remember driving by the General Electric (GE) plant, seeing hundreds of cars in the parking lot, and thinking that those workers were making essential products that Americans depended upon, including our military.

As a veteran who served 24 years in the U.S. Army Reserves as a tank gunner and a drill sergeant, I’m keenly aware of the importance of quality craftsmanship and keeping American military manufacturing here at home.

In 2018, our worst fears were confirmed when we received notice that GE was closing the plant. Production ended in 2019 and the few remaining workers, including me and my son, were laid off.

Once upon a time, everyone in Schenectady knew if you got a job offer at GE, you took it.

The GE Lighting factory in Bucyrus, Ohio, has made it through 13 U.S. presidential administrations, and survived two recessions and a global pandemic. But now its future is in jeopardy.

I’ve worked as a jet engine mechanic at GE Strother Field in Kansas for nearly six years after serving in the United States Air Force in Iraq, South Korea and Turkey.