[April 17, 2018] I frequently tell the story of how West Point military cadets behave when they are allowed to buy small treats from one of the many vending machines. On top of the machines are coins that accumulated in the change slot and no one has claimed. No cadet dare take a coin for themselves, as this… Read More »
[April 16, 2018] My High School friend’s dad was a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force stationed at Dyess Air Force Base, Abilene, Texas. On several occasions when my friend and I were annoyed by all the jet noise, his dad would say; Boys, that is the sound of freedom. Americans have always been seen as an odd… Read More »
[April 1, 2018] There’s an old adage that there are no atheists in foxholes. It comes from observations of ordinary people and soldiers made by Ernie Pyle; the famous World War II news correspondent. His observations were not unlike that of our local clergyman who sees more pews in churches filled across the nation, today … Easter Sunday.… Read More »
[March 20, 2018] It’s hard to believe for those of us who served, but the Iraq War began on this date 15 years ago. The war also had the unintended consequence of driving a wedge between the political right and left in our country. Many of our citizens were opposed because “Bush lied” about Saddam Hussein having Weapons… Read More »
[February 19, 2018] A good article by Glenn Ellmers recently focused on the “old ways” of dealing with bigotry and prejudice (link here) . Before I read it, I thought maybe he was talking about fist fights or something along those lines but he argues that the way we dealt with those problems years ago was different and… Read More »
[December 20, 2017] The idea that the study of pivotal events in history provide invaluable lessons toward the improvement of humankind (and leadership) is a theme often expressed in this blog; theLeaderMaker.com. While truth behind this idea is often neglected, we should remember both the events at Nanking in 1937 and how it is treated today.1 “Victory usually… Read More »
[December 7, 2017] The attack on Pearl Harbor on this date December 7, 1941, by the Imperial Japanese Navy is a day in infamy for many reasons. But it was also on this date that Americans began to find out about being tough, determined, and knowledgeable about freedom. In other words, they learned about winning. “A lot of… Read More »
[December 1, 2017] The idea that life is fair was expunged from me in Army Basic Combat Training during my time in 1974 at Fort Polk, Louisiana. Drill Sergeant Bryant was a rigid disciplinarian that I intensely disliked because he was hard on us … but looking back, he was also the fairest man I ever knew. What… Read More »
[November 27, 2017] As I watched the video of a North Korean soldier escape into the South, I’m reminded of the East German guard’s “leap to freedom” in 1961. Both have something in common and that is the desire to flee communism and its dehumanizing effects on its captive citizenry. Communist North Korea is no place to live.… Read More »
[November 23, 2017] In the early days of my military career, I thought it important to copy the behavior and speech of those known to be the very best leaders. It came naturally, it seemed to me at the time, to find out what those leaders did when they were not “working” – for example, what they were… Read More »