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“I know now that some things are just supposed to be,” Dominick says. “God has a plan, and I believe He chooses certain people to do those things.”

Here’s how Dominick manages to answer that calling while juggling everything else. Complacence, after all, has never been her thing. 

You went back for your doctorate when your children were still young, and you had already retired from the military. Why?

My dad was one of 14 children, and he had a sixth-grade education. I don’t even think he could read. But he always said, “Please get your education.” So, I remember feeling that I needed to take that step forward.

Being educated will make you a more well-rounded person. You are going to be exposed to so much more than you would have if you did not have your education.

At the doctoral level, I’m bringing something to the table. We can all collaborate, and together we can do amazing things.

How do you juggle running a company, overseeing Willing Warriors and spending time with your family, including your two grandchildren?

I try to delegate much of it and be able to oversee things. While it seems like a lot (and it is a lot), there are so many people who have hands and feet who want to be a part of things, especially the nonprofit.

It’s now the accountability piece for me. I will say to people when I meet them, “Your word is your bond, OK? We’re going to count on you to do this.”

Looking back at my mom’s model, she brought us all in then said, “Here’s what you’re gonna do. It may seem like a lot, but at the end of the day, you’re gonna carry a piece, and I’m gonna carry a piece, and we’re going to make it happen.”

What motivates you to keep going when it would be easier to retire?

I know I will die with my boots on. There is no reason to sit. We have such an opportunity in this country to be able to learn and grow. So, there’s not a thought of waking up and calling it quits.

But the thought of, “What are we going to learn today? How are we gonna grow today?” is what excites me, because it’s not so much what I’m doing for myself. It’s what I’m doing for that generation behind. How can I connect with these youngsters who really need to hear and feel and touch those who have gone before?

The community around Willing Warriors has been incredibly supportive and regularly volunteers. Why is that?

My mom would have my siblings and me pull together veggies on the farm, and we would give them to neighbors. I was like, “I’m not giving them our food!”

And she said, “Oh, yes, you are. This is what we do for the neighbors.”

I think the same thing applies from our country’s perspective: What are we doing for our neighbor? What are you doing outside of the church? What are you doing outside to show people that you love them? That you care?

There’s a price that comes with this freedom that we have, and we all get to participate [in paying for it]. 

Why do you think the country needs Willing Warriors and programs like it?

I had no clue about the need until I got involved. During my 22 years in the military, I felt I was in a safe place. We didn’t go to combat, even though I was deployed.

So, to be able to see the need warriors and their families have for respite [is profound].  

It’s difficult when you’re in the hospital, and you have the routine of appointment after appointment after appointment.

Here, family can actually be family again. They can reconnect and rejuvenate.

We’ve gotten so many letters from warriors and families. One said, “I didn’t even know my daughter loves basketball [until this retreat].”

There was also one warrior we’d known for years. He had four deployments and he refused to come to Willing Warriors, saying somebody else needed it more. When he finally called to come himself, I said, “If he’s calling, it’s serious.” So, we got him here with his family.

He wrote a long letter to the retreat after he left, and at the very end of it, he said, “With 22 suicides per day [in the military community], you just saved one. Thank you.”