We’re With Lauren: A Sailor Who Found Connection With the USO and Helps Others Find It, Too

By Trey Smith

When asked why she decided to serve her country and join the U.S. Navy, Hospital Corpsman Second Class Lauren Dymond didn’t hesitate:

“I wanted to be a part of something a little bigger than myself.”

Her reason for serving is more than fitting, considering the Navy’s unofficial motto, “Non sibi sed patriae,” is Latin for “Not self, but country.” That phrase reflects the spirit of sacrifice embraced by so many sailors and members of the Armed Forces, including Lauren, who carries that sense of purpose throughout her service.

Encouraged by her older sister who currently serves in the Navy Reserve, Lauren enlisted in the Navy in 2022, shortly after graduating from her small-town high school in her home state of Pennsylvania. Her grandfather had served in the Army, but otherwise Lauren didn’t grow up in a family with a long history of military service.

Inspired by her older sister, a Navy Reserve Sailor, Lauren enlisted in the Navy in 2022 after graduating from her small-town Pennsylvania high school. | Photo credit Courtesy Photo

But Lauren was inspired to enlist, and her service has opened doors to experiences that she could have only imagined growing up in her hometown.

But the farther Lauren traveled from home, the more she came to understand just how much home could really matter, as military life is never without its challenges. For service members, being far from family and familiar support systems — often while stationed or deployed in a new city or country — can bring its own unique set of struggles.

Lauren was no exception to this, as that distance has been one of the more difficult parts of serving.

“Some of the challenges I faced while serving are being far from home and having limited contact with my family,” Lauren shared. “I was stationed overseas, so being in different time zones made it difficult to stay in touch. There was also the constant moving and change.”

For service members far from home, the lack of connection to their loved ones can negatively impact their morale. A quick video call, text or phone call may seem simple to some, but those small moments can make a difficult day feel a little lighter and remind service members of the people and purpose waiting for them at home. Maintaining those connections with loved ones can help them return to the mission with a renewed sense of focus.

“A message from home would always improve my morale. When I was overseas in Greece, obviously we had a different time zone, so it was difficult, but whenever I got a text or a call, that always made my day,” Lauren said.

How the USO Became a Source of Connection for Lauren

Lauren’s connection to the USO began early in her service, around the time she began boot camp. At first, the USO was simply something Lauren noticed along the way — at airports, her first command and other places where military life took her. Over time, those encounters became something more: continuous support from an organization that is dedicated to helping service members rest, recharge and find connection wherever they serve.

“I’ve used the USO in a lot of different ways. One of my favorite amenities is the airport,” Lauren shared. “After long flights, traveling for PCS, [the USO is] always very supportive. They always have something going on, which is [why] you can always connect with someone there.”

She also became familiar with how the USO supports service members in a myriad of other ways. At her first command in Maryland, she saw how the USO’s support extended to the USO Warrior Center at Bethesda, which provides a welcoming refuge for service members being treated at the nearby Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Lauren began to understand what the USO could mean to a service member beyond her firsthand experiences, especially for troops enduring some of the toughest moments in their military journey while in recovery.

Soon, Lauren would find herself on the other side of those interactions as a USO volunteer.

While stationed overseas in Greece, she decided to volunteer at the nearby USO Center. She had already experienced what it meant to walk into a Center and find a welcoming place, a familiar face or a simple reminder of home. Now, she had the chance to be that familiar face for someone else.

Because USO volunteers come from all walks of life, they bring their own experiences and perspectives to the mission of strengthening the people serving in America’s military. For volunteers like Lauren, that means bringing her experience as a service member to the role, supporting the very people she currently serves alongside.

“My favorite part about volunteering was being able to go out on holidays, or when morale was really down at the command, and give out goodie bags. When it was really hot, we would give out fans and snacks. And really, just having that connection with people, being able to boost their morale and make their day a little bit better, was probably my favorite,” Lauren said.

For Lauren, being both a sailor and a USO volunteer continues to make her connection to the volunteer work personal — and it’s those experiences that keep her coming back.

“The sense of community and how it helps people and improves a service member’s life just by being there and letting them know that they have a support system outside of their family when they’re far from home — it’s what keeps me going.”

And sometimes, those experiences go beyond the walls of a USO Center. While stationed in Greece, Lauren and other volunteers would visit ships when they pulled into port after months at sea. Some sailors had gone months with only mess hall food and no change of scenery, and seeing their reactions when she and other volunteers arrived with home-cooked meals from Greece became a priceless memory she continues to carry with her.

“We would go down to visit the ships when they were coming into port while I was in Greece. Some of those ships had been out for months, and they hadn’t been able to experience a different environment, so we were able to go out and support them. And just seeing everybody’s faces when we gave them food from Greece was something that really stood out to me.”

For service members without access to a brick-and-mortar USO Center, volunteers like Lauren are willing to go the extra mile to extend that same spirit of connection beyond a physical location, whether that means traveling to a ship in port or supporting an operation that’s protecting those far from it.

That’s exactly why, when Lauren thinks about what the USO means to service members far from home, her answer comes down to one thing:

“[The USO] just wants to make you feel more at home while you’re overseas, or you’re in a place that you don’t know. And I think that’s the best way I can describe it.”

And now, that feeling of home is no longer something she simply finds at a USO Center. It’s something she will continue to help create as a USO volunteer.