Marine Corps veteran finds new mission at LLUH

After several years of military service, including deployment on the front lines in Iraq in 2003, Josh Lund found his new mission here at Loma Linda University Health, where he serves as Chief of Supply Chain Management. He is one of 427 current LLUH employees who are veterans of military service.

Lund joined the Marine Corps after graduating from high school in 1999. He had always wanted to join the military, and ultimately found himself assigned to an infantry battalion at Camp Pendleton.

“Marines were the toughest branch,” Lund recalls. “and I wanted the hardest job.” Assigned to Weapons Company, First Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Lund served in the 81 mm mortar platoon.

First deployed in Okinawa, Japan, from which he served on a ship that went throughout the Pacific, Lund was back in the US when the 9/11 attacks occurred. After watching the towers fall on the chow hall televisions, Lund said everyone there knew they were at war.

“We quickly ramped up to a very aggressive wartime posture,” he recalled. Training exercises took more than a year to complete, and Lund was deployed to Iraq, entering the war zone through Kuwait. Lund and his unit crossed the border into Iraq on March 19, 2003.

“It was a surreal experience,” Lund said. “We first secured southern Iraqi oil fields, and ultimately moved on to Baghdad to secure one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces.”

Lund faced significant conflict as part of the 600-member convoy ordered to enter the city on the north side and secure that palace. The convoy entered the city at 2 a.m., finding there was no power and the city streets completely abandoned. Moments later the convoy was under a major assault by Iraqi troops.

“We just got hit,” Lund said. “Everywhere you looked there were muzzle flashes from small arms and machine guns firing from point-blank range. The exchange of fire between us and the enemy was overwhelming.”

Lund and a second Marine next to him in the vehicle began returning fire and praying out loud, asking for God to give them strength in that moment. Rocket-propelled grenades had begun flying at the convoy vehicles, when Lund suddenly saw a bright flash off to his left.

God’s grace is something that has been present in my life both in the military and in my work here. Even facing crisis after crisis, He never has let me down.Josh Lund

“I had a sudden feeling like I was struck in the chest with a baseball bat,” Lund said. Thrown down onto the vehicles interior from the blast of the grenade, Lund prayed, “Lord, I need you! There’s nothing I can do in my power to get through this.” But after getting back on his feet and reengaging in the fight, another grenade detonated right in front of Lund, throwing him to the vehicle floor again. Lund again prayed for strength, got back up and returned fire.

“God responded through those brutal circumstances,” Lund said.

The battle’s chaotic circumstances continued, indulging a suicide attack by Iraqi troops. But Lund said God’s hand was on him and the rest of the convoy during that time.

After 12 hours of fighting, the convoy was able to reach and take control of their palace target. Lund said out of the 600 members of that force, there were 60 casualties and one death despite the heavy fighting and tens of thousands of rounds fired at them during the battle.

“It was a miracle to have my life spared,” Lund said. “God’s grace is something that has been present in my life both in the military and in my work here. Even facing crisis after crisis, He never has let me down.”

After being in Iraq for four months, Lund’s unit was one of the first combat units to return to the United States.

Discharged to allow him to pursue his education, Lund enrolled in Crafton College in San Bernardino. An art teacher there saw something special in Lund and encouraged him to consider art as a career. Lund earned an associate’s degree that focused on a hybrid art/business curriculum. He then transferred to California Baptist University, where he ended up focusing on business administration for his bachelor’s degree.

“It was a tough transition from military life to civilian,” Lund recalled. “Often, military members are expected to just figure civilian life out after that traumatic experience. It took me three to four years to decompress.”

Lund’s mother was employed at LLUH at that time and suggested he apply for an analyst position in Supply Chain Management. Since joining the department, he has worked his way into multiple leadership roles, becoming department head in 2015.

The leadership skills Lund learned in the Marines at a young age have continued to serve him as his career has developed at LLUH. Thrust into leadership as an 18-year-old kid, Lund says you quickly learn how to be effective when it counts.

“By adapting the military mindset of being accountable to yourself and others and believing in a mission, you are prepared to lead by example,” Lund said. “Military values such as integrity, justice, judgment, initiative, enthusiasm, and tact are key to becoming a respected, authentic leader within any department.”

Lund’s military perspective proved to be a solid foundation as his department went through two incredibly stressful periods — implementing LLIFT and the COVID-19 pandemic. He believes that assembling a quality team and having the right leadership in place before those two crises was crucial.

“We were together, understood our roles, and how we supported the organization,” Lund said. “We stepped up to the tasks, and by God’s grace we moved into those situations in a really good place.”

Lund found LLUH’s motto of making man whole one that he could easily support and encourage. Ironically, his Marine battalion’s motto was “Make peace or die.”

“My mission looks different now,” Lund said.

I remind my team that we never know when it could be your spouse, mom, dad, son, or daughter up in that nursing unit. Making sure that they have what they need is crucial to success.

Lund says his entire department understands they are there to support the LLUH front-line workers — doctors, nurses, and clinical staff.

“We want to give them everything they need to accomplish their mission every single day,’ he said. “I remind my team that we never know when it could be your spouse, mom, dad, son, or daughter up in that nursing unit. Making sure that they have what they need is crucial to success.”

As LLUH marks Veterans Day 2024, Lund believes that the organization’s willingness to hire veterans shows that the entire employee team supports and recognizes their service.

“There was a sacrifice made by each veteran and their families,” Lund said. It’s so crucial for LLUH to honor our veterans for that reason. People have written a blank check with their lives. Everyone who has served has sacrificed — some greater than others, but each has allowed us to enjoy our freedoms in this country.”