In the Daily Journal’s 2024 Salute to Veterans, John Keker shared how his experience as a platoon leader in Vietnam served him in building a successful law firm.
Commissioned as a Marine Corps 2nd lieutenant upon his graduation from Princeton in 1965, Keker went on to graduate first in his class, training alongside hundreds of young officers at Basic School in Quantico, Virginia. He chose to lead an infantry platoon in a war zone in Vietnam, where he faced intense combat before being wounded.
Reflecting on his experience, Keker points to several lessons that have served the success of Keker, Van Nest & Peters since its founding in 1978. Citing Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton by Peter Fretwell and Taylor Baldwin Kilend, he lists characteristics of a sustainable high-performance culture, including a mission-centric culture, an environment of inclusion and honesty, and teams entrusted with personal responsibility and authority.
Keker’s story is a reminder of the valuable contributions that veterans bring in service to their country and in their professions.
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