[May 4, 2018] I saved this column for Friday to give my readers a little levity to charge into the weekend with something less serious. I’ve spent a lot of time in the U.S. military and during that time, living in many foreign nations, I saw some of the smartest, most interesting, and richest people on the planet. What I quickly learned was that people are different and leaders need to understand that and get over it.
But, it was not those intelligent, beautiful, rich people where I found my interest but among the “common folk”; those that do the everyday work, live life to the fullest, and are the mainstay for any society.
I’m reminded of a short, stocky man who was my personal bodyguard assigned to me by the Sheikh Abdul Sattar of Anbar Province, Iraq in 2007; at the beginning of the Sunni Awakening. He couldn’t read and was almost toothless, yet he had three wives and 23 children. His job? Keep terrorist from killing or kidnapping me while I visited his region. With bandoleers of ammunition strapped across his chest, covered by a U.S. Army field jacket, and with at least five knives, two Soviet grenades, an AK-47 rifle, and Sunni headdress wrap, this man was the classic warrior of old. He spoke broken English so we joked about the small manhood of terrorists and the stupidity of politicians and lawyers. He had proven himself by killing several terrorists who had attacked a convoy used by his Sheikh. I lost track of him but I know he is still working at his trade because that is the way this type of man is; a man’s man.
It was the coldest I’ve ever been in my life. For a moment I thought I might have frostbite feet when the CH-46 U.S. Marine Sea Knight helicopter finally landed at 3 am in the morning at the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona. It was the middle of winter and Marine helicopters only travel at night and with open doors. A young Lance Corporal checked the back of my hand (where my destination was written) to ensure I was at the right place before saluting and helping me off the aircraft. Before we boarded, this 19-year old Corporal told me about his mother and sisters and how they were happy he had joined the USMC and gotten himself out of the poverty-stricken Virginia countryside he had grown up in. His personal mission was to bring his family out to Arizona to live in a house off base and give them a steady income, safe food, a house that didn’t leak, and the heating-cooling system worked regularly. He finished his tour, left the Marines, went to college and after finishing with an accounting degree, now works in his own business.
While attending Oklahoma State University to work on my graduate degree, I was paid to teach introductory courses. One student was a hippie-like young man in his late 20s, long blond hair, an easy smile, ragged clothes, and always barefoot. Yet he always seemed to be in perfect health (was it no shoes?) and ready to make himself a better man by earning his engineering degree; all on a shoestring budget. Always short of money, this young man did odd jobs off campus to include emptying the trash in an office building, bartending, gas station attendant, and Mr. Do-Anything. He was the kind of guy who had a burning desire to be a better person intellectually, physically, and spiritually. One day he was pulled from one of my classes to never return. He called to say his ex-wife had suddenly been diagnosed with stage-4 cancer and he wanted to be with her at the end.
It was early 2014 and I was visiting several military veterans at the Brooklyn Veterans Administration Hospital next to Fort Hamilton, NY. There, in an isolation room was a dying World War II veteran who had contracted a highly contagious disease and was dying from it. I was told what he had but I can’t remember the name. The nurses help get me outfitted correctly before going in to visit this “old soldier.” I was told by the nursing staff he had not had any visitors since coming to the hospital 6 months before. To my surprise, he was sharp-eyed, alert, and willing to carry on a conversation with me. He told me about how he was in the second wave of invasion troops onto Omaha beach as part of the 29th U.S. Infantry Division. His unit was responsible for linking up with Army Rangers at Pointe du Hoc and “reduce” all German strongpoints. For his actions that day, he earned a Silver Star and Purple Heart. He died three days after my visit.
None of these people are alike. They all had something that challenged their lives and those challenges helped define who they were and that was something burning and successful. They were better humans because of their personal tragedies and difficulties they had experience. To a person, they were happy, fun to be around, and they made you feel like someone important to share their lives.
This is what I mean when I say that people are different; leaders, get over it. I’ve been fortunate to meet some of the best people the world has to offer.
TGIF, a good post for the weekend. I’ll be working anyway just like all us folk who are earning their way through life. That is what holds me and my family together; knowing that I have the freedom that the snowflake college students will never see. I got this from knowing many different people over my lifetime and never rejecting what they had to say (even when it was a little crazy).
The social trends today are moving in the exact opposite direction among our young people. They talk “diversity” but they only mean things like skin color. The diversity of thinking, of experiences, of abilities, is an “old” idea they reject outright. I’m sad for them as they now live in their own bubble.
Another interesting and entertaining post Brig Gen Satterfield. Like you, I’ve had my share of great experiences with people from many parts of the world. The smart way to deal with it is to appreciate those you meet and be prepared to learn something from all of them.
One of my favorite quotes from Gladys Knight is “I’m a people lover. I love interacting with different people as I meet them, and I think people are one of God’s greatest creations. I really do. They’re interesting and intriguing.” This quote kinda sums up what GEN Satterfield is talking about.
Yes, Gil, you are correct … at least I think so. To judge people based on their looks is counterproductive. To judge people, however, on their ability to do good things and follow basic rules of behavior, that is an entirely different animal.
The implication here, I think, is that leaders (like others) are prone to some level of unacceptance of those who are different. Such differences do not matter either morally or ethically. What matters is, can the do their job and are they a good person.
I agree with Eric, my favorite too is the old man who had the ammo belts across his chest. LOL.
My favorite one is the Iraq Sunni who acted as his bodyguard. The whole scenario is interesting to me and the visual I have in my head is something to wonder about.
This is why I’m part of your fan club and of course the education pieces of wisdom on leadership.
Ingenious. Thankyou Gen Satterfield.
This article reminds me of a chance meeting I had with a janitor who worked on the floor I was visiting in Manhattan, NY. He was an older man, quiet, and unassuming. It was obvious he was suffering from some physical handicap. He smiled at me and said hello. Without even thinking, I asked him if there was something I could do for him. He said, “no” but that he asked that I say a prayer for him. I never knew why and yet that brief encounter stayed with me. I learned about humility that day.
Good story, Jelly. Thanks.
Good one. Well written Jelly.
Good post today … entertaining, enlightening, educational, and something to learn too.
I agree!!
You said it and you’re right.
I liked reading your blog today. Cheers!
Interesting twist on your article today. Thank you. Keep giving us fresh stuff for us to think about, yet also entertains.
My favorite one was the late 20 year old, hippie-like man. I’ve never heard someone so described. Thanks for a send-off into the weekend.
I always try to communicate this message to my boys who I coach. There will be people you meet throughout your lifetime that will make an impression upon you and from who you will learn a great deal; all unexpected. Those people are not necessarily teachers, coaches, and professors but ordinary “folk”.
Loved it. Brought back memories of my college days and Army ROTC.