We were young once…and soldiers (reminders of who we are)
Mostly, we live day to day, the weeks fade into years. All too often, we fail to stop and reflect on our lives. Yet from time to time, we experience something that causes us to pause…and remember who we are, where we came from and the people who have made a difference in our lives. For me, such a time is nigh.
This week I head to my 45th West Point Reunion. Its pending arrival has enlivened a host of memories and ghosts from the past. Sadly, I have lost touch with many of my classmates over the intervening years since graduation. Yet, I know that the weekend will leave me with a renewed sense of connectedness. We have literally spent a lifetime of shared experiences that even time and distance cannot erase.
The Class of 1979 entered the Academy as the Vietnam War drew to a close (although the US had abandoned the field several years before). We joined the Army as young Lieutenants when the Cold War heated back up as President Regan entered office. While we are no longer on active duty, we all serve the Country.
Over time, I have come to understand the strange nature of the military. It functions most efficiently with brilliant innovative leadership, but it demands, and cannot exist without, stringent conformity. This juxtaposition is at the heart of the experience at West Point.
The journey started with our walk through the “Sally Port” (the arched stone entrance) into an unknown (ominously named, “Beast Barracks”). The process, while extremely sophisticated, is really very simple. They put you under stress, both physical and mental. If you prove capable or remain separate from the group, they simply ratchet up the pressure. At some point everyone breaks. Sooner or later, the individual falters and must rely on assistance from others. If the group fails to act together, the pressure is increased until it understands that the only strength, the only chance at success, is by becoming one (the whole is stronger than the sum of the parts).
Once everyone is broken, the process is reversed to build leadership back within the group. Through these experiences, I have developed a unique perspective. I have come to define leadership as “the ability to get someone to do something they would not necessarily have done of their own volition.” After all, jumping out of the trench and charging a machine gun is not in one’s own self-interest regardless of how important that may be to the group.
All of us had traded in that deadly serious profession of training soldiers for war. Some have had their metal tested in battle. A few that stayed in for the long haul have truly become our country’s warriors leaders. Most of us have ultimately pursued other endeavors, but the lessons learned were never far from the surface. Such is the nature of our relationship and reuniting with that group brings all of those joys and pains back.
Like the rest of life, our service together was marked by the happy and funny counter posed with the serious and sad. The basic fact is that we always knew that in a time of need, a classmate was there to do what had to be done, without question, without excuses, and without need for recompense. Each act was something beyond the expected, but the obligation understood,
One memory of a previous reunion still rings prescient. At our 35th reunion, we were given a gift. It was a pen with an eagle atop and inside was a poem by Rudyard Kipling, “The Thousandth Man.” In his words, “One man in a thousand, Solomon says Will stick more close than a brother…Nine hundred and ninety-nine depend On what the world sees in you, But the Thousandth Man will stand your friend With the whole round world agin you.”
In a world in which integrity and loyalty are rare, that room was full of Thousandth Men. I served with many along the way and have met a few in Kingsport. I have since been humbled by those words. In my heart, I wonder if I truly live up to the tribute. We each struggle with our weakness and vanity. Our hope is that when the hour comes, we can prove ourselves to be counted among that honored group.
Life has come full circle. It is time to return from whence we came. We were young back then. We were soldiers. We swore allegiance to the Constitution and our country. We would keep the world safe. In retrospect, I feel we did. It was the greatest honor of my life to have served with that “band of brothers.”.
I look forward to the pleasure of rejoining them if only for a brief time.
