Jack
We’re probably best known for our out-of-step advertising and branding. So we’ve attracted a lot of characters as clients over the years. None were more colorful than Jack Downing, former honcho of Soldier On, who died the other day at 82.
When Jack took over the organization, it was called the United Veterans of America. About 17 years ago he came to us looking to rebrand it. Initially, it looked like the new name would be Forward March. Then my son Gainer had a coupla beers at the Brewmaster’s Tavern in Williamsburg, where my son Joe was bartending at the time. On the ride home that Saturday night, Gainer called me and in his fake Cockney accent hollered, “I got it, I got it! It’s ‘Soldier On.’” That Monday we met with Jack Downing and Jim Canavan. Soldier On it was.
Jack was not a veteran, and neither were we, but you couldn’t find anyone more committed to serving homeless vets than Jack. He developed innovative housing and support services—some of them the first of their kind in the country. He piloted a program to reach vets before they became homeless. Soldier On also pioneered a housing program in Leeds for women vets with kids. I remember a lot of meetings with Jack, driving around in his car—sometimes in Pittsfield, looking for one of his kids struggling with addiction. Anytime we’d see somebody by the side of the road with a corrugated sign that read Homeless Vet, Jack would pull over. We’d talk to the guy, and Jack would say, “I run a program that houses homeless vets and provides support services.” He’d pull out his business card, scribble his cell number on the back, and say, “Call me. I’ll pick you up myself.”
Jack’s efforts caught the attention of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen, who spoke at a fundraising event we developed at the Log Cabin in Holyoke. He was—and is—a huge supporter of Soldier On. He was always inspired to do more for homeless vets because of Jack.
Bruce Buckley now carries the stick for Soldier On, and they’ve developed housing and support services for formerly homeless vets—men and women—in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Bruce has always said, “There would be no Soldier On without Jack Downing.”
We’ve worked with a lot of inspiring clients over the years, but Jack Downing was something else. And now that I think about it, I never saw Jack when he wasn’t wearing a suit. I always told him he should be a senator—because he knew how to get things done. All I gotta say, Jack, is we’ll try our best to soldier on with your fire and spirit.
Keep your dukes up.
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