THANK YOU COLONEL HENRICKSON.  

THANK ALL OF YOU. IT IS GOOD TO BE AMONG MARINES AGAIN.

HERE IS WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN TODAY:   FOR THE NEXT FORTY-FIVE MINUTES, I WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THREE MEN WHO EXEMPLIFY THE HIGHEST IDEALS OF THE U.S. MILITARY . . . THE HIGHEST IDEAL OF WHO WE ARE AS A PEOPLE. THESE ARE MEN WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE.

THE STORIES OF THESE MEN ARE IMPORTANT TO YOU BECAUSE THE IDEALS OF THE MILITARY ARE HIGHER THAN THE IDEALS OF THE CIVILIAN WORLD. AND THE STORIES OF THESE THREE MEN CAN BE WAYPOINTS IN YOUR OWN CAREERS.

THESE MEN ARE BOUND TOGETHER BY THE MARINE CORPS.

BUT MORE IMPORTANT, THEY ARE BOUND TOGETHER BY A COMMON VIRTUE.  INTEGRITY.

THESE THREE MEN WERE MEN OF INTEGRITY.

IF YOU REMEMBER NOTHING ELSE OF WHAT I SAY, REMEMBER THIS . . . AND IT IS THE ONLY POINT I HAVE TO MAKE THIS AFTERNOON . . .  IT IS ALL ABOUT INTEGRITY.

AT THE END OF THIS DAY. . . AT THE END OF YOUR CAREER . . . AT THE END OF YOUR LIFE . . . IT IS ALL ABOUT INTEGRITY.

JOHN BOYD,  GEORGE DAY,  VICTOR KRULAK. TWO AIR FORCE COLONELS AND A MARINE LIEUTENANT GENERAL.

LET’S BEGIN WITH  JOHN BOYD,  AN AIR FORCE FIGHTER PILOT WHO HAD A PROFOUND IMPACT ON YOU, BOTH AS PILOTS AND AS MARINES.

HE WAS THE IMPETUS BEHIND THE F-15, THE F-16 AND THE F-18.

TO BOYD, EVERYTHING WAS GOOD OR BAD//RIGHT OR WRONG///BLACK OR WHITE. BOYD BELIEVED HIS IDEAS COULD REVOLUTIONIZE THE AIR FORCE AND BENEFIT HIS COUNTRY. EVERYTHING ELSE IN HIS LIFE WAS SECONDARY.  HE WAS SO PASSIONATE ABOUT HIS WORK THAT ONCE, WHEN HE WAS SMOKING A CIGAR, DURING A CONVERSATION WITH A GENERAL, HE STUCK HIS CIGAR TO THE GENERAL’S TIE AND SET IT TO SMOLDERING.

BOYD’S INTEGRITY . . . HIS PASSION . . . MADE HIM A PARIAH IN THE AIR FORCE.

BUT HERE IS WHAT HE GAVE THE AIR FORCE:

AS A YOUNG CAPTAIN, HE WROTE THE AERIAL ATTACK STUDY. HE CODIFIED AIR TO AIR COMBAT. WHEN THE STUDY WAS DECLASSIFIED, IT CHANGED THE WAY EVERY AIR FORCE IN THE WORLD FLIES AND FIGHTS.

AS A MAJOR, BOYD DEVELOPED THE ENERGY-MANEUVERABILITY THEORY////A WAY TO QUANTIFY THE PERFORMANCE NOT ONLY OF AMERICA’S FIGHTER AIRCRAFT, BUT THREAT AIRCRAFT.

TODAY IF YOU HEAR SOMEONE TALKING OF THE OODA LOOP, THEY ARE TALKING OF BOYD’S WORK.

HIS MOST IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION WAS A BRIEFING CALLED “PATTERNS OF CONFLICT,” A HISTORY OF WARFARE FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME AND THE LESSONS TO BE LEARNED FROM THE GREAT CAPTAINS.

NOW . . . I CAN’T EXPLAIN THE AERIAL ATTACK STUDY///I CAN’T INTERPRET AN E-M DIAGRAM//I HAVE ONLY A RUDIMENTARY UNDERSTANDING OF THE OODA LOOP//AND I CAN’T GIVE YOU A SYNOPSIS OF HIS BRIEF.

WHAT I CAN DO IS EXPLAIN THE IMPACT BOYD’S IDEAS HAD ON THE MODERN MARINE CORPS. THIS IS ONE OF THE GREAT MILITARY STORIES OF OUR TIME.

THIS STORY BEGINS IN THE MID-SEVENTIES, IN THE AFTERMATH OF VIETNAM. THE US MILITARY WAS AT A LOW POINT WITH TOO MANY MANAGERS AND TOO FEW LEADERS.  DRUGS. RACIAL FRICTION. POOR MORALE. READINESS AND RETENTION PROBLEMS. THERE WAS MUCH TALK IN THE MEDIA OF A “HOLLOW MILITARY.”

THE MARINE CORPS WAS NOT IMMUNE TO THESE PROBLEMS. OFFICERS REALIZED THAT THE WARFIGHTING STRATEGY USED IN VIETNAM WAS DEEPLY FLAWED. YOUNG OFFICERS WANTED CHANGE. THEY WANTED MORE THAN A FRESH COAT OF PAINT ON OLD IDEAS. THEY WANTED SOMETHING NEW. SOMETHING THAT WORKED.

THERE WAS A LOT OF TALK. BUT THE TALK SWIRLED AND EDDIED AND THERE WAS NO LEADERSHIP.

IN 1979 COLONEL MICHAEL WYLY, US MARINE CORPS, STEPPED FORWARD.

IN 1965, DURING HIS FIRST TOUR IN VIETNAM, LIEUTENANT WYLY HAD SEEN THE OUTMODED DOCTRINE AT WORK. HE WAS IN A HELICOPTER AND SAW MARINES ADVANCING ON A LINE JUST AS THEY HAD AT BELLEAU WOOD.

IN 1969, CAPTAIN WYLY RETURNED TO VIETNAM ON HIS SECOND TOUR, THIS TIME AS A COMPANY COMMANDER. ONE OF HIS PLATOON LEADERS WAS LIEUTENANT JAMES WEBB. CAPTAIN WYLY TOOK OVER DELTA 1/5, THEN CALLED “THE DYING DELTA,” TURNED IT AROUND, AND MADE IT ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE MARINE COMPANIES IN THE FIELD.

IF YOU READ “FIELDS OF FIRE,” MR. WEBB’S NOVEL ABOUT VIETNAM, IT WAS A FICTIONALIZED ACCOUNT OF HIS TIME WORKING FOR MIKE WYLY.

NOW BACK TO LATE 1979. COLONEL WYLY IS IN CHARGE OF THE TACTICS SECTION AT THE AMPHIBIOUS WARFARE SCHOOL AT QUANTICO. HE IS TEACHING THE MOST EXCITING SUBJECT IMAGINABLE . . . WARFARE . . . BUT THE TEXTBOOKS ARE OUTMODED AND IRRELEVANT.

GENERAL BERNARD TRAINOR TELLS HIM “TACTICS IS THE FLAT TIRE. YOU FIX IT.” HE GAVE COLONEL WYLY AUTHORITY TO DO WHATEVER IT TOOK.

MIKE WYLY – FORGIVE ME IF SOMETIMES REFER TO THESE MEN INFORMALLY. I SPENT THREE YEARS OR SO WITH THEM – HEARD OF A RETIRED AIR FORCE COLONEL NAMED JOHN BOYD WHO WAS GIVING A BRIEFING ABOUT A NEW KIND OF WARFARE.

HE INVITES BOYD TO DELIVER HIS BRIEFING AT QUANTICO. BECAUSE BOYD’S BRIEFING LAST FIVE HOURS, COLONEL WYLY  INVITES ALL THE CLASSES AT QUANTICO TO ATTEND.

HE WAS TAKING A RISK BECAUSE HE HAD NEVER MET BOYD. HE HAD NEVER HEARD THE BRIEF. MANY OF HIS STUDENTS ARE COMBAT VETERANS. HOW ARE THEY GOING TO REACT TO A LECTURE ABOUT GROUND WARFARE FROM A RETIRED AIR FORCE PILOT?

NO TWO BRANCHES OF THE AMERICAN MILITARY ARE FARTHER APART THAN THE AIR FORCE AND THE MARINE CORPS. AND COLONEL WYLY IS CONCERNED THAT HIS MUD MARINES WILL EAT THIS AIR FORCE COLONEL FOR LUNCH.

JANUARY, 1980. BOYD WALKS IN FRONT DOOR AT GEIGER HALL. HE LOOKS LIKE A HOMELESS PERSON. BAGGY NYLON PANTS. SCRUFFY SHOES. OLD SHIRT WORN OUTSIDE HIS PANTS. HE REACHES INTO HIS POCKET FOR HIS GLASSES AND HIS GLASSES ARE KEPT IN AN OLD SOCK.

THE SKEPTICISM, THE DISDAIN, HUNG IN THE AIR.

THEN BOYD BEGAN HIS BRIEF.

HE TALKED OF THE PIVOTAL BATTLES OF HISTORY AND HOW GREAT COMMANDERS WON AGAINST VASTLY SUPERIOR FORCES/// HE SAID A COMBAT UNIT SHOULD BE LIKE WATER GOING DOWNHILL. HE TALKED OF APPLYING STRENGTH AGAINST WEAKNESS///OF MULTIPLE THRUSTS//OF DECEPTION AND AMBIGUITY///OF GETTING INSIDE THE ENEMY’S DECISION CYCLE///OF FOLDING THE ENEMY IN ON HIMSELF////HOW COMMANDERS SHOULD LEAD FROM THE FRONT//HOW THEY SHOULD ISSUE MISSION ORDERS; THAT IS, TELL THEIR SUBORDINATES THEIR INTENT AND THE RESULTS THEY EXPECT AND THEN GET OUT OF THE WAY///

HE DID NOT TELL THE MARINES HOW TO FIGHT; RATHER HE TAUGHT A NEW WAY OF THINKING ABOUT WARFARE.

THE MARINES WERE MESMERIZED. FIVE HOURS BECAME SIX AND THE MARINES WERE ON THEIR FEET, FIGHTING FOR BOYD’S ATTENTION.

SIX HOURS BECAME SEVEN AND NOW THE MARINES WERE GATHERED AROUND BOYD AS IF HE WERE THE REINCARNATION OF SOME ANCIENT WARRIOR. HE WAS AN OLD MAN . . . A RETIRED AIR FORCE PILOT . . . BUT HE HAD WHAT THEY HAD BEEN SEARCHING FOR.

COLONEL WYLY///JOHN BOYD///EVERY MARINE IN THE AUDITORIUM ALL SENSED THEY WERE PRESENT AT THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING EXCITING, SOMETHING THAT COULD CHANGE MODERN WARFARE.

SEVEN HOURS BECAME EIGHT AND THE ONLY QUESTION REMAINING FOR BOYD WAS: WHEN CAN YOU COME BACK?

COLONEL WYLY AND COLONEL BOYD BECAME MISTER INSIDE AND MISTER OUTSIDE. THEY SET ABOUT TO CHANGE THE MARINE CORPS.

BOTH  MEN HAD BEEN TO VIETNAM AND BOTH BELIEVED SUPERIOR KNOWLEDGE MAKES A SUPERIOR COMBAT LEADER. THEY PUT TOGETHER A READING LIST FOR STUDENTS IN THE TACTICS CLASS. BOOKS THAT HAD NEVER BEEN TAUGHT AT QUANTICO BEFORE.

MAJOR GENERAL AL GRAY, COMMANDER OF THE 2^ND MARINE DIVISION AT LEJEUNE, WAS A FAN OF BOYD AND MANY TIMES INVITED HIM TO LEJEUNE TO DELIVER HIS BRIEF.

BOYD’S IDEAS BEGAN TO PERCOLATE THROUGHOUT THE 2^ND MARINE DIVISION AND, BECAUSE OF GENERAL’S GRAY’S INFLUENCE, TO MAKE INROADS ELSEWHERE.

IN 1987 JAMES WEBB BECAME SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.  A FEW MONTHS LATER CAME TIME CAME TO NAME A NEW COMMANDANT. MR. WEBB REACHED OUT TO THE MARINES HE HAD SERVED WITH IN VIETNAM, MANY OF WHOM WERE BOYD FANS AND AL GRAY FANS. THEY TOLD MR. WEBB THAT GENERAL GRAY WAS THE MAN.  GENERAL GRAY BECAME CMC AND HE SPRINKLED HOLY WATER OVER COLONEL BOYD AND COLONEL WYLY AND THE IDEA OF MANEUVER WARFARE AND HE SAID THIS IS HOW THE MARINE CORPS IS GOING TO WAR.

GENERAL GRAY TOOK THE READING LIST AND RE-NAMED IT THE COMMANDANT’S READING LIST. HE EXPANDED IT TO INCLUDE BOOKS RECOMMENDED FOR ALL RANKS.

HE WANTED ALL MARINES TO THINK IN NEW WAYS ABOUT WARFARE.

THE GREAT IRONY IS THAT THE AIR FORCE HAD DISMISSED JOHN BOYD AS A KOOK AND AN ODDBALL AND NEVER GAVE HIM THE INSTITUTIONAL RECOGNITION HE DESERVED.

THE NAVY IGNORED BOYD.

ARMY TRIED TO FOLLOW BOYD’S IDEAS BUT COULD GET AWAY FROM THE OLD IDEAS OF ATTRITION WARFARE . . . OF HIGH DIDDLE DIDDLE, STRAIGHT UP THE MIDDLE.

ONLY THE MARINE CORPS FULLY EMBRACED BOYD’S IDEAS ABOUT MANEUVER WARFARE, ABOUT FOURTH GENERATION WARFARE.

A RETIRED AIR FORCE COLONEL CHANGED THE WAY THE U.S. MARINES GO TO WAR.

YOU MAY BE ASKING . . . DID IT WORK?

ASK GENERAL RAY SMITH. AS A LIEUTENANT COLONEL, IN 1980 AND 1981, HE HAD STUDIED BOYD’S WORK, PRACTICED HIS IDEAS IN FIELD EXERCISES, AND WAS ON THE WAY TO BEIRUT IN 1983 WHEN HE GOT DIVERTED TO GRENADA. OPERATION URGENT FURY. HIS MARINES RACED ALL OVER THE ISLAND AS IF THEY OWNED IT WHILE ARMY RANGERS WERE PINNED DOWN AT THE AIRPORT.

ASK GENERAL MIKE MYATT. IN  THE GULF WAR, HIS 1^ST MARINE DIVISION WAS FAR BEHIND ENEMY LINES//BYPASSED STRONG POINTS///MOVED LIKED WATER GOING DOWNHILL//IGNORED HIS FLANKS AND LET THE ENEMY WORRY ABOUT HIS FLANKS. ///CREATING AMBIGUITY AND DECEPTION AND CONFUSION////

NO BETTER EXAMPLE  OF BOYD’S IDEAS ABOUT FOLDING THE ENEMY IN ON HIMSELF CAN BE FOUND THAN THE FACT FIFTEEN IRAQI DIVISONS SURRENDERED TO TWO DIVISIONS OF MARINES.

ASK FORMER VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY. HE WAS THE SEC DEF WHO PLANNED DESERT STORM. WHEN MR. CHENEY WAS A YOUNG CONGRESSMAN FROM WYOMING HE HAD MET BOYD. HE HAD HEARD THE FULL BRIEF; HE HAD DOZENS OF PRIVATE SESSION WITH BOYD.

1. CHENEY WAS A UNIQUE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE IN THAT HE KNEW MORE ABOUT WARFARE THAN DID MANY OF HIS GENERALS.

IN THE RUN UP TO DESERT STORM, HE SUMMONED BOYD OUT OF RETIREMENT TO THE PENTAGON FOR A NUMBER OF PLANNING SESSIONS.

WHEN GENERAL NORMAN SCHWARTZKOPF, THE ARMY GENERAL WHO COMMANDED THE COALITION FORCES, PRESENTED A PLAN FOR A MASSIVE HEAD-ON ASSAULT, IT WAS CLASSIC ATTRITION WARFARE, SECRETARY CHENEY THREW IT OUT.  

GENERAL SCHWARTZKOPF BROUGHT IN THE JEDI KNIGHTS, YOUNG GRADUATES OF SAMS, AND PRESENTED ANOTHER PLAN, A VARIATION OF THE FIRST. SECRETARY CHENEY THREW IT OUT.

WHEN I INTERVIEWED VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY, HE TOLD ME HE USED BOYD’S PLAN.  AIRPOWER UP FRONT. HAVE MARINES FEINT AN AMPHIBIOUS LANDING, THEN ARMY DOES MASSIVE LEFT HOOK. CLASSIC ENVELOPMENT. WAS A HUNDRED HOUR WAR. OVER BEFORE IT BEGAN.

WHEN BOYD DIED IN MARCH, 1997, SEVERAL MARINE COLONELS WENT TO COMMANDANT, GENERAL CHARLES KRULAK, A FRIEND AND SUPPORTER OF BOYD, AND SAID THE MARINE CORPS NEEDS TO HAVE BOYD’S PAPERS. GENERAL KRULAK SAID MADE IT HAPPEN. TODAY, BOYD’S BOOKS AND PAPERS ARE IN THE LIBRARY AT QUANTICO. THEY ARE USED OFTEN.

I AM TOLD THAT THE MARINE CORPS IS PLANNING THE FINAL WING OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE MARINE CORPS AND IN THAT WING WILL BE AN EXHIBIT CALLED “THE QUANTICO RENAISSANCE.” ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MARINE CORPS IN THE 1980S.

THERE ARE TWO CHAPTERS ABOUT THE MARINE CORPS IN THE BIOGRAPHY OF JOHN BOYD. AND IN WRITING THOSE CHAPTERS I FIRST BECAME AWARE THERE WAS SOMETHING DIFFERENT ABOUT THE MARINE CORPS . . . THAT IT HAD AN ETHOS DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER BRANCHES. I WANTED MY NEXT BOOK TO BE ABOUT A MARINE.

BUT I WAS INNUNDATED WITH IDEAS ABOUT POSSIBLE SUBJECTS FOR MY NEXT BOOK. AND ONE OF THEM I SIMPLY COULD NOT TURN DOWN. ABOUT AIR FORCE COLONEL GEORGE DAY. BUD DAY.

CHANCES ARE, YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD OF BUD DAY. HE WAS BORN AND GREW UP IN SIOUX CITY, IOWA. THE DAY AFTER PEARL HARBOR HE DROPPED OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL TO JOIN THE MARINE CORPS.

REMEMBER THAT HE WAS A MARINE BECAUSE THIS WILL BECOME IMPORTANT.

AFTER THE WAR, HE WENT TO COLLEGE AND LAW SCHOOL WAS COMMISSIONED IN THE AIR FORCE WHERE HE SPENT TWENTY FOUR YEARS.

HE WAS A QUIET MAN. LOW KEY.  SOFT SPOKEN. HE MARRIED HIS HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEART AND HAD A WONDERFUL MARRIAGE. FOUR CHILDREN.

ONE STORY WILL TELL YOU ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS GREAT MAN.

IN 1967 AS A MAJOR, HE WENT TO VIETNAM AND STOOD UP A TOP SECRET OUTFIT CALLED COMMANDO SABRE. CALL SIGN: MISTY. FIRST JET FORWARD AIR CONTROLLERS. USED F-100, THE F MODEL WITH A BACK SEAT.

NORTH VIETNAM HAD BEGUN DEPLOYING SAMS AND AAA JUST NORTH OF THE DMZ AND AMERICA NEEDED EYES UP THERE. MISTY’S JOB WAS TO LOCATE THOSE AAA SITES, MISSILE BATTERIES, TRUCK PARKS, FUEL DUMPS THEN CALL IN STRIKE AIRCRAFT AND DISRUPT THE FLOW OF SUPPLIES DOWN THE HO CHI MINH TRAIL.

MISTY FLEW IN ROUTE PACK ONE; THAT PART OF NORTH VIETNAM CLOSEST TO THE DMZ. THAT WAS THE AO. BIG DIFFERENCE IN FLYING IN SOUTH VIETNAM AND NORTH VIETNAM. NO AAA OR SAMS IN SOUTH VIETNAM. MOSTLY MONKEY KILLER MISSIONS.

EVERY MISSION THE MISTYS FLEW WAS IN NORTH VIETNAM. . . THE MOST HEAVILY DEFENDED REAL ESTATE ON EARTH. PROCEDURE WAS TO LAUNCH, HIT THE TANKER, WORK ROUTE PACK ONE, TANKER, ANOTHER HOUR IN THE PACK . . . SOMETIMES A MISSION LASTED FIVE OR SIX HOURS.

BUD DAY WAS MISTY ONE. HE WROTE THE PROCEDURES. HARD DECK IS FOUR THOUSAND FEET. KEEP A HIGH MACH. NEVER GO OVER SAME TARGET TWICE ON A MISSION.  AT THE ALTITUDE THEY WERE FLYING, AAA COULD REACH THEM IN LESS THAN TWO SECONDS. THEY HAD TO JINK CONSTANTLY.

THE MISTYS WERE VERY AGGRESSIVE. SOMETIMES THEY GOT LOWER THAN FOUR THOUSAND FEET. IF THEY WERE BEING SHOT AT, SOMETIMES THE MISTYS FLEW DOWN BARRELS OF THE AAA AND FIRED THEIR CANNON. SOMETIMES FIRE MARKING ROCKETS AT FUEL DUMP AND FOUND THAT HAPPINESS WAS A SECONDARY EXPLOSION.

DANGEROUS JOB? YOU BET.

THERE WERE ONLY 157 MISTYS. TWENTY TWO PER CENT WERE SHOT DOWN.

AUGUST 26. BUD DAY IS IN THE BACK SEAT. HE IS CHECKING OUT A NEW PILOT, A YOUNG AIR FORCE ACADEMY GRADUATE. MISTY 13.

FLIGHT DID NOT START WELL. THE BACK SEAT HAD A LOOSE HARNESS THAT NO ONE SEEMED ABLE TO FIX. MAJOR DAY KNEW HE WAS IN FOR A ROUGH RIDE.

WHEN MAJOR DAY FIRST ENTERED THE AO, HE THOUGHT HE SAW A SAM. BUT IT WAS EARLY IN THE MORNING. THE SUN WAS LOW. HE WAS DOWN IN THE WEEDS AND GOING FAST AND WASN’T SURE. HE WORKED THE PACK, HIT THE TANKER, CAME BACK TO WORK THE AO AGAIN. ON THE WAY OUT HE DECIDED TO MAKE ANOTHER PASS OVER THE SUSPECT MISSILE SITE. HE WOULD COME IN FROM ANOTHER DIRECTION.

HE PUSHED IT UP TO 500 KNOTS AND CAME IN AT A THOUSAND FEET.

JUST AS HE CONFIRMED THE MISSILE SIGHTING, AAA HIT HIM SO HARD HE SAID IT FELT AS IF THE AIRCRAFT HAD COME TO A SUDDEN STOP.  PROCEDURE WAS TO LIGHT THE BURNER… CLAW FOR ALTITUDE, AND HEAD EAST FOR THE COAST, MAYBE 90 SECONDS AWAY. BUT THE AIRCRAFT ARCHED OVER, BUD WAS THROWN HARD AGAINST HIS HARNESS, AND IN THE HIGH-SPEED EJECTION HIS RIGHT ARM WAS BROKEN IN TWO PLACES///HIS LEFT KNEE WAS DISLOCATED//AND HIS OXYGEN MASK HIT HIM IN THE EYE AND CAUSED A MASSIVE HEMATOMA, BLINDING HIM.

MAJOR DAY  WAS CAPTURED ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AFTER HE LANDED. THE ENEMY POURED A ROUGH CAST ON HIS ARM, STRIPPED  HIM TO HIS UNDERWEAR AND THREW HIM INTO A HOLE IN THE GROUND. MAJOR DAY WANTED THE GUARDS TO THINK HE WAS ABOUT DEAD, SO HE URINATED AND DEFICATED ON HIMSELF. GUARDS  DISGUSTED AND DIDN’T WANT TO BOTHER WITH HIM SO TOSSED IN A CANTEEN OF WATER AND LEFT HIM.

VISUALIZE THIS. A FORTY-TWO YEAR OLD MAN, THIRTY MILES BEHIND ENEMY LINES, WEARING SKIVVIES . . . BAREFOOTED,  ARM BROKEN, KNEE DISLOCATED, BLIND IN ONE EYE. HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN A HOSPITAL.

BUD DAY DECIDED TO ESCAPE AND EVADE.

HE GRABBED HIS CANTEEN AND HOBBLED SOUTH.

FOR NEXT FEW WEEKS HE LIVED ON FROGS THAT HE FOUND IN MUD PUDDLES. PURPLE BERRIES THAT HE HAD BEEN TAUGHT IN SURVIVAL SCHOOL NOT TO EAT.

HE SURVIVED TWO B-52 ARC LIGHT STRIKES//A BOMBING ///ARTILLERY BARRAGES AND AVOIDED NUMEROUS ENEMY PATROLS.

TWO WEEKS LATER, MAYBE THREE . . . HE SWAM THE BEN HAI RIVER AND BECAME THE ONLY AMERICAN IN THAT LONG WAR TO ESCAPE FROM NORTH VIETNAM AND MAKE IT BACK TO SOUTH VIETNAM. BUT HE HAD LOST ABOUT TWENTY POUNDS AND WAS DELUSIONAL.

HE WAS WITHIN A MILE OF THE MARINE CORPS BASE AT CON THIEN WHEN HE STUMBLED INTO THE BACKSIDE OF A VIET CONG AMBUSH, WAS SHOT, RECAPTURED. HIS INTERROGATOR RE-BROKE HIS ARM. HE WAS TIED TO A FUEL DRUM ON THE BACK OF A TRUCK AND DRIVEN BY NIGHT NORTH TO HANOI, TO HOA LO PRISON. SOME WOULD CALL IT THE HANOI HILTON, NOT A NAME FAVORED BY THE POWS.

IN THE BEGINNING, JOHN MCCAIN WAS HIS ROOMMATE, SERIOUSLY INJURED. AS THE TWO MEN BEGAN TO RECOVER, THEY WERE TORTURED BRUTALLY: MCCAIN BECAUSE HE HAD A SMART MOUTH AND BUD DAY BECAUSE HE HAD ESCAPED. LATER THE TWO MEN WERE SEPARATED.

TWO YEARS LATER, THE SUMMER OF 1969, EARLY ONE SUNDAY MORNING, IT WAS MOTHER’S DAY, TWO POWS ESCAPED. TALL, FAIR-HAIRED CAUCASIANS DID NOT EXACTLY BLEND IT WITH INDIGENOUS PERSONNEL IN DOWNTOWN HANOI AND THE TWO MEN WERE CAPTURED WITHIN HOURS AND RETURNED TO JAIL.

ONE OF THEM DIED IN THE SUBSEQUENT BEATING.

THE GUARDS STARTED WITH THE JUNIOR OFFICERS AND BEGAN A SYSTEMATIC PROGRAM OF REPRISAL. DAY AND NIGHT THE SCREAMS OF AMERICAN POWS WERE HEARD IN THE CAMP. IT WAS THE MOST BRUTAL SUMMER OF ALLTHE SUMMERS THE POWS SPENT IN HANOI.

ONE MAN WENT INSANE. SEVERAL DIED FROM THE BEATINGS. A GROUP OF SICK AND INJURED MEN WERE TAKEN AWAY AND NEVER SEEN AGAIN AND TODAY THEY REMAIN MIA.

BUD DAY WAS THE SENIOR RANKING OFFICER, THE SRO, IN HIS BUILDING AND HE KNEW THE GUARDS WERE SAVING HIM FOR LAST. HE PLANNED HOW HE WOULD HANDLE THE BEATINGS.

BUD DAY WAS A MIDWESTERNER AND HE KNEW HOW TO REDUCE ISSUES TO THE BASICS. HE RESOLVED NOT TO DO OR SAY OR WRITE ANYTHING THAT WOULD EMBARRASS HIS FAMILY//HIS AIR FORCE//OR HIS COUNTRY. HE WOULD RETURN WITH HON0R OR HE WOULD NOT RETURN AT ALL.

PRETTY BASIC. THAT IS, UNTIL YOU CONSIDER THE FULL DIMENSIONS OF HIS CHOICE.

ONE MORNING BEFORE DAWN HE HEARD THE JANGLE OF THE GUARD’S KEYS AND HE KNEW IT WAS HIS TIME. HE WAS TAKEN TO  A CELL//STRIPPED///TIED FACE DOWN ON THE FLOOR AND THE GUARDS BEGAN BEATING HIM WITH A RUBBER TIRE. ONE GUARD ON EACH WALL//LAUNCH/GET MOMENTUM AND LASH HIM//THEN THE OTHER//

BY NOON THE GUARDS WERE TIRED AND ANOTHER SHIFT CAME IN.

THAT NIGHT MAJOR DAY WAS PLACED ON A STOOL AND NOT ALLOWED TO SLEEP. WHEN HE NODDED OFF, HE WAS PRODDED BY A BAYONET// AT DAWN THE BEATINGS BEGAN AGAIN. MAJOR DAY TRIED TO KEEP TRACK OF THE LASHES BUT HE LOST COUNT SOMEWHERE AROUND THREE HUNDRED.

HE COULD HAVE STOPPED THE BEATINGS AT ANY TIME BY THE SIMPLE EXPEDIENT OF SIGNING A ONE-PAGE DOCUMENT THAT SAID THE WAR IN VIETNAM WAS IMMORAL.

SENATOR TED KENNEDY HAD PUBLICLY SAID THE WAR WAS IMMORAL.SO HAD ATTORNEY GENERAL RAMSEY CLARK. HALF THE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS . . . THOUSANDS OF COLLEGE STUDENTS . . . AND PEOPLE ALL ACROSS AMERICA WERE SAYING THE WAR WAS IMMORAL.

BUT MAJOR GEORGE DAY DID NOT HAVE THAT LUXURY. HE WAS A SERVING OFFICER IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY DURING A TIME OF WAR AND HE WAS BOUND BY A CODE OF CONDUCT THAT SAID HE WOULD GIVE ONLY THE BIG THREE: NAME, RANK, SERIAL NUMBER.

BY NOW, MAJOR DAY’S BACK, BUTTOCKS, UPPER LEGS WERE LIKE HAMBURGER. HE WAS A DEVOUT MAN  BUT SAID IT WAS USELESS TO PRAY FOR MERCY SO HE PRAYED FOR STRENGTH.

THE BEATINGS CONTINUED. BUD DAY WAS TAKEN TO A PLACE WHERE NOT EVEN PRAYER COULD HELP. HE KNEW HE WAS DYING. HE HELD ONTO ONE SIMPLE PHRASE: RETURN WITH HONOR///RETURN WITH HONOR///RETURN WITH HONOR.

HE WOULD DIE BEFORE HE VIOLATED THE CODE OF CONDUCT.

THE GUARDS KNEW MAJOR DAY WAS DYING AND THEY REDUCED THE LASHES TO AROUND FIFTY EACH DAY AND BUD SAID HE THOUGHT HE WAS ON VACATION.

THEN, IN SEPTEMBER, HO CHI MINH DIED, AND MOST POWS ENTERED A PERIOD OF RELATIVE TRANQUILITY.

I SAY MOST POWS BECAUSE THAT DID NOT APPLY TO BUD DAY. HE COMPLAINED CONSTANTLY TO HIS CAPTORS ABOUT THE TREATMENT AMERICANS WERE RECEIVING . . . ABOUT TORTURE . . . ABOUT ADHERENCE TO THE GENEVA CONVENTION . . . ABOUT BETTER MEDICAL TREATMENT FOR THE SICK AND INJURED.

FOR HIS COMPLAINTS, MAJOR DAY WAS TOSSED INTO SOLITARY. INTO UNIMAGINABLE FILTH AND SQUALOR, MUD AND INSECT, FOOD THAT CONTAINED GLASS SHARDS AND FECAL MATTER.

AND EVERY TIME HE CAME OUT OF SOLITARY . . . HE CAME OUT CURSING HIS CAPTORS.

THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT ONE POW COULD PAY ANOTHER, WAS TO SAY HE WAS A “TOUGH RESISTOR.” BUD DAY WAS A TOUGH RESISTER. HE WAS A LEGEND AMONG THE POWS.

IN THE SPRING OF 1973 THE POWS RETURNED TO AMERICA. AND THEY RETURNED WITH HONOR. NO AMERICAN POWS IN HISTORY HAD BEEN SUBJECTED TO SUCH BRUTAL . . . SUSTAINED . . .  SYSTEMATIC TORTURE AS HAD THE FIGHTER PILOTS  IN HANOI – MOST OF THE POWS IN HANOI WERE FIGHTER PILOTS. THEY SET THE BAR VERY HIGH.

WHEN POWS DEBRIEFED IN PHILIPPINES AND LATER IN CALIFORNIA, THEY ALL SHOOK THEIR HEADS WHEN THEY TALKED OF BUD DAY. THEY SAID HE WAS THE TOUGHEST MAN GOD EVER MADE.

COLONEL DAY WAS AWARDED THE MEDAL OF HONOR, THE AIR FORCE CROSS, DOZENS OF COMBAT MEDALS, BECAME THE MOST DECORATED LIVING AMERICAN OFFICER. AIR FORCE NAMED BUILDINGS FOR HIM, A SURVIVAL SCHOOL, EVERY PLACE THEY COULD PUT HIS NAME ON, THEY DID. IT SEEMED EVERY AIR FORCE MUSEUM IN THE COUNTRY HAD AN F-100 WITH “MAJOR BUD DAY” PAINTED UNDER THE CANOPY RAIL. IN THE PENTAGON HIS PICTURE HUNG OUTSIDE OFFICE OF CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE AIR FORCE. AIR FORCE FOUR-STARS SAID “SIR” TO COLONEL DAY. HE WAS THE MOST ICONIC OFFICER IN THE AIR FORCE. A VENERATED MAN. MR. AIR FORCE.

KEEP THAT IN MIND. BECAUSE WHEN I INTERVIEWED ABOUT THE SUMMER OF 1969, HE HAD NOT BEFORE TALKED OF THAT BRUTAL SUMMER, NOT EVEN TO HIS WIFE. SHE KNEW THAT HER HUSBAND HAD NIGHTMARES EVERY NIGHT OF THE MAN WHO HAD TORTURED HIM. . .  SHE KNEW THAT HER HUSBAND HAD TO TAKE SLEEPING PILLS EVERY NIGHT. . .  SHE KNEW HER HUSBAND HAD SUFFERED PERMANENT ORTHOPEDIC INJURIES.

BUT SHE DID NOT KNOW THE DETAILS OF HIS TORTURE.

WHEN COLONEL DAY REVISITED THAT EXPERIENCE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ALMOST THIRTY YEARS, HE WEPT. HIS WIFE WEPT.

I SAID, BUD, HOW DID YOU DO IT? WHEN YOU WERE AT THE POINT OF DEATH, YOU STILL DEFIED THEM. WHERE DID YOU FIND THE BACKBONE . . . THE GUTS?

COLONEL DAY REACHED OUT, PUT HIS ARM ON MY SHOULDER. TEARS WERE RUNNING DOWN HIS FACE BUT HIS VOICE WAS FIRM WHEN HE SAID, “ROBERT, EVERYTHING I EVER LEARNED THAT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT, I LEARNED AS AN ENLISTED MARINE IN WORLD WAR II.”

MARINE LEADERSHIP LATER READ THAT QUOTE IN MY BOOK AND HAD A PARADE FOR COLONEL DAY AT THE IWO JIMA MEMORIAL IN WASHINGTON. AND BUD TOLD ME IT WAS ONE OF THE PROUDEST MOMENTS OF HIS LIFE.

ALL THOSE MEDALS . . . ALL THOSE HONORS . . AND  RANKING UP THERE NEAR THE TOP WAS  A MARINE PARADE AT THE IWO JIMA MEMORIAL.

WHEN I FINISHED BUD DAY’S BIOGRAPHY, I RESOLVED THAT MY NEXT BOOK WOULD BE ABOUT A MARINE. I WANTED TO CAPTURE THE CULTURE OF THE MARINE CORPS. I WANTED A MAN WHO REPRESENTED THE ORGANIZATION THAT WAS NIMBLE ENOUGH TO EMBRACE THE IDEAS OF JOHN BOYD///A MAN WHO REPRESENTED THE VALUE SYSTEM THAT FOREVER INFLUENCED THE LIFE OF BUD DAY//A MAN WHO PERSONIFIED HE HONOR/COURAGE/COMMITMENT THAT IS THE MARINE CORPS.

THERE ARE MANY LEGENDS OF THE CORPS. YOU KNOW THEIR NAMES BETTER THAN I. BUT FINDING THE RIGHT MAN WAS DIFFICULT. I HAD A ROCKY BEGINNING. AS I LOOKED AROUND, TALKED TO MARINES, THE MOST COMMON REACTION WAS DISBELIEF. MORE TIMES THAN I CAN REMEMBER I WAS ASKED, “HOW IN THE HELL CAN YOU WRITE A BOOK ABOUT A MARINE WHEN YOU WERE NOT A MARINE?”

EVENTUALLY I WENT TO GENERAL CHARLES KRULAK, FORMER CMC. HE HAD WRITTEN A BLURB FOR THE BOYD BOOK. I SAID, “GENERAL, I WANT TO WRITE A BOOK ABOUT A MARINE. CAN YOU SUGGEST SOMEONE?”

HE ASKED A VERY PERCEPTIVE QUESTION: “DO YOU WANT TO WRITE ABOUT A CHARACTER, OR DO YOU WANT TO WRITE ABOUT SOMEONE WHO MADE A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO THE MARINE CORPS?”

I THINK YOU KNOW MY CHOICE . . . THE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION.

GENERAL KRULAK SAID, “YOU NEED TO WRITE ABOUT MY FATHER.”

I KNEW THE NAME BRUTE KRULAK BUT I KNEW NOTHING OF THE MAN.

“GENERAL, TELL ME ABOUT YOUR FATHER.”

GENERAL KRULAK SAID HIS FATHER WAS COMMISSIONED FROM THE NAVAL ACADEMY IN 1934 THEN WENT TO CHINA IN 1937 AS INTELLIGENCE OFFICER. AFTER THE JAPANESE ATTACKED SHANGHAI, LIEUTENANT KRULAK LEARNED THEY PLANNED TO FLANK THE DEFENDERS WITH AN AMPHIBIOUS LANDING.

HE BORROWED A TUG BOAT FROM THE NAVY AND WITH A YOUNG NAVAL OFFICER AT THE HELM, SAILED DOWN THE YANGTZE AND INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE JAPANSESE LANDING FORCE.

IN YOUR MINDS EYE, VISUALIZE A MARINE LIEUTENANT ON A TUG BOAT, PLOWING FULL SPEED DOWN THE YANGTZE, AMERICAN FLAG FLYING, SAILING INTO THE CHAOS AND BEDLAM AND DANGER OF AN AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT, ALL THE WHILE TAKING PICTURES AND MAKING SKETCHES OF JAPANESE LANDING CRAFT. A LIEUTENANT.

GENERAL KRULAK TOLD ME HOW HIS FATHER, A FEW YEARS LATER, NOW A CAPTAIN, WORKED WITH ANDREW JACKSON HIGGINS IN NEW ORLEANS///AND HE USED THOSE SKETCHES AND THOSE PICTURES TO DESIGN AND BUILD THE DROP-BOW LANDING CRAFT, THE LCVP. THE BOAT THAT GENERAL EISENHOWER SAID WON THE WAR FOR AMERICA.

HE TOLD ME HOW HIS FATHER, AS A LIEUTENANT COLONEL, COMMANDED A PARACHUTE BATTALION IN WORLD WAR II IN THE PACIFIC.  COLONEL KRULAK KNEW THERE WOULD BE NO PARACHUTE DROPS ON THOSE JUNGLE ISLANDS SO HE RETRAINED HIS BATTALION AS A RAIDER BATTALION, EVEN USED LIVE FIRE EXERCISES. AFTER GUADALCANAL, COLONEL KRULAK TOOK HIS BATTALION ASHORE ON AN ISLAND NAMED CHOISEUL, A DIVERSIONARY ATTACK FOR THE INVASION OF BOUGAINVILLE. 

PART OF COLONEL KRULAK’S FORCE HAD TO BE EVACUATED FROM THE BEACH BY PT BOATS, ONE OF WHICH WAS SKIPPERED BY A YOUNG NAVAL OFFICER NAMED JOHN KENNEDY.

FOR HIS ACTIONS ON CHOISEUL, COLONEL KRULAK WAS AWARDED THE NAVY CROSS. ADMIRAL BULL HALSEY PINNED IT ON.

AFTER THE WAR, COLONEL KRULAK WAS THE DEFACTO LEADER OF THE CHOWDER SOCIETY, A GROUP OF LT COLONELS, FIGHTING AN EFFORT BY LEADERS OF THE OTHER SERVICES TO SUBSUME THE MARINE CORPS INTO THE OTHER BRANCHES. THE ARMY HAD BEEN JEALOUS OF THE MARINE CORPS EVER SINCE BELLEAU WOOD AND WAS DETERMINED TO PUT THE MARINE CORPS OUT OF BUSINESS.

IT WAS A VERY REAL THREAT AND THE MARINE CORPS CAME VERY CLOSE TO EXTINCTION.

IT ENDED WHEN THE COMMANDANT SPOKE TO CONGRESS AND DELIVERED WHAT HISTORY REMEMBERS AS THE BENDED KNEE SPEECH, ONE OF THE MOST ELOQUENT SPEECHES A MILITARY MAN EVER GAVE TO CONGRESS. COLONEL KRULAK WROTE THAT SPEECH.

COLONEL KRULAK DEVELOPED THE USE OF HELICOPTERS IN THE MARINE CORPS. HE WAS NOT A PILOT BUT HE COULD SEE OVER THE HORIZON TO THE DAY WHEN THOSE THEN-UNGAINLY AND UNSAFE AND UNPREDICTABLE MACHINES COULD NOT DO NINETY MILES AN HOUR, BUT ALMOST TWO HUNDRED MILES AN HOUR; WHEN THEY COULD CARRY NOT JUST TWO PASSENGERS BUT MORE THAN A DOZEN, WHEN THEY COULD GATHER INTELLIGENCE, LAY COMMUNICATIONS WIRE, RESCUE DOWNED PILOTS, DELIVER MEN AND EQUIPMENT INTO A HOT LANDING ZONE.

ALL THAT AND MORE THE MARINE CORPS DID IN KOREA.

IF YOU SAW THE MOVIE, “WE WERE SOLDIERS,” YOU UNDERSTAND WHY MOST CIVILIANS BELIEVE MEL GIBSON AND THE ARMY’S SEVENTH CAVALRY WAS THE FIRST TO USE HELICOPTERS IN COMBAT. THE ARMY GOT THE CREDIT. BUT THEY USED A TEMPLATE CUT BY THE MARINE CORPS, BY BRUTE KRULAK, MORE THAN A DECADE EARLIER.

BY NOW I WAS PRETTY MUCH CONVINCED THAT LT GENERAL VICTOR KRULAK WOULD MAKE A GREAT SUBJECT. BUT WHAT ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED ME WAS THE STORY GENERAL CHARLES KRULAK TOLD ME ABOUT HIS FATHER AND PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON.

THIS GAVE ME WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR . . . THE “MORAL COMPONENT” OF THE STORY.

IN 1967 LT GEN VICTOR KRULAK WAS CGFMFPAC. HE HAD HIS NOSE IN EVERYTHING. HE WOULD SPEND 210 DAYS IN VIETNAM, FLY SOME 1,500 HELICOPTER SORTIES, WALK THE GROUND AT KHE SANH.

THERE WERE NOT MANY THREE-STARS IN THE MARINE CORPS . . . AND GENERAL KRULAK WAS AT THE TOP OF THE LIST TO BECOME THE NEXT COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS.

THEN HE DECIDED PRESIDENT JOHNSON WAS NOT CONDUCTING THE WAR IN A PROPER FASHION AND THAT HE WOULD GO TO WASHINGTON AND SET THE PRESIDENT STRAIGHT.

HE HAD EVERYTHING TO LOSE AND NOTHING TO GAIN BY GOING TO THE WHITE HOUSE.

BUT HE WENT. OF HIS OWN VOLUTION. HE TOLD LBJ IF HE DID NOT CHANGE THE WAY HE WAS PROSECUTING THE WAR, HE WOULD LOSE BOTH THE NEXT ELECTION AND THE WAR.

THERE IS A PICTURE IN THE BOOK OF GENERAL KRULAK SHAKING HIS FINGER IN THE PRESIDENT’S FACE AND THE PRESIDENT LEANING BACK IN A DEFENSIVE POSTURE. YOU NEED TO KNOW THAT GENERAL KRULAK WAS FIVE FEET FOUR AND THE PRESIDENT WAS SIX FEET FOUR. BUT BRUTE KRULAK WAS A THREE STAR MARINE AND HE HELD THE MORAL HIGH GROUND. AND THE PRESIDENT KNEW IT.

GENERAL KRULAK DID WHAT IS THE PROPER DUTY OF A GENERAL OFFICER; TO GIVE THE SENIOR CIVILIAN LEADERSHIP A FRANK ASSESSMENT OF THE SITUATION. HE WAS THE ONLY SENIOR OFFICER IN THE U.S. MILITARY TO DO SO DURING THE WAR IN VIETNAM.

INTEGRITY.

AFTER GENERAL KRULAK HAD HIS SAY, THE PRESIDENT STOOD UP. GENERAL KRULAK STOOD UP. THE PRESIDENT PUT HIS HAND ON GENERAL KRULAK’S BACK AND PUSHED HIM OUT OF THE OVAL OFFICE.

GENERAL KRULAK TOLD EVERYONE HE EXPECTED TO BE FIRED WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS. BUT HE WAS NOT. IN FACT HE WAS TOLD HIS APPOINTMENT AS CMC WAS ABOUT TO BE ANNOUNCED. HE NOTIFED SUBORDINATES TO PREPARE FOR HEADQUARTERS DUTY. HIS WIFE BOUGHT A SET OF FOUR STARS TO PIN ON IN THE OVAL OFFICE.

THEN LBJ STRUCK. NOW THERE WERE OTHERS IN THE RUNNING FOR COMMANDANT. A DARK HORSE CANDIDATE NAMED LEONARD CHAPMAN JUNIOR WAS NAMED COMMANDANT.

LTGEN KRULAK HAD DONE THE RIGHT THING. AND THERE IS ALWAYS A PRICE TO PAY FOR DOING THE RIGHT THING.

GEN KRULAK DID NOT GET HIS FOURTH STAR. HE DID NOT BECOME COMMANDANT.

BUT TODAY HE IS REMEMBERED AS ONE OF THE TRUE GIANTS OF THE CORPS, A BRILLIANT AND ACCOMPLISHED OFFICER WHO DID AS MUCH FOR THE MARINE CORPS AS ANY MARINE HAS EVER DONE. HE IS A LEGEND.

HE IS REMEMBERED AS A MAN OF INTEGRITY.

IF THERE ARE ANY HISTORIANS AMONG YOU, I WOULD ASK YOU THIS: HOW IS PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON REMEMBERED?

BOTH INTEGRITY AND LACK OF INTEGRITY ARE LASTING. THEY ROLL DOWN THROUGH THE DECADES. THEY ARE REMEMBERED.

I’M GOING TO CLOSE BY CIRCLING BACK TO JOHN BOYD. AND NOW I’M SPEAKING PRIMARILY TO YOU  LIEUTENANTS AND CAPTAINS.

WHEN BOYD WAS IN THE PENTAGON, YOUNG OFFICERS SOMETIMES CAME TO HIM WHEN THEY WERE FACING A DILEMMA: WHEN THEY HAD BEEN ORDERED TO TAKE A SHORT CUT ON WHAT THEY CONSIDERED A MORAL ISSUE//WHEN THEY WERE ORDERED TO COMPROMISE WITH A DEFENSE CONTRACTOR . BOYD HAD HAD A STANDARD SPEECH FOR THOSE YOUNG OFFICERS.

TIGER, YOU HAVE COME TO A FORK IN THE ROAD, HE WOULD SAY. AND NOW YOU HAVE TO DECIDE IF YOU WANT TO BE SOMEBODY OR IF YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING.

IF YOU WANT TO BE SOMEBODY, YOU CAN GO DOWN THAT FORK. ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS TO GO ALONG. YOU WILL GET GOOD ASSIGNMENTS. YOU WILL BE LIKED BY YOUR SUPERIORS. YOU WILL BE PROMOTED ON TIME, MAYBE EVEN BELOW THE ZONE.

BUT AT THE END OF YOUR CAREER, WHAT WILL BE YOUR LEGACY? WHAT WILL YOU HAVE DONE FOR YOUR COUNTRY?

IF YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING, TAKE THIS FORK. STOP THINKING ABOUT PROMOTION AND THINK OF DOING SOMETHING SIGNIFICANT WITH YOUR LIFE. YOU MAY NOT GET GOOD ASSIGNMENTS. YOU MAY NOT BE LIKED BY YOUR SUPERIORS. YOU MAY NOT BE PROMOTED ON TIME.

BUT AT THE END OF YOUR CAREER, YOU WILL HAVE BEEN TRUE TO YOURSELF. YOU WILL HAVE DONE SOMETHING FOR YOUR BRANCH OF THE SERVICE. YOU WILL HAVE DONE SOMETHING FOR YOUR COUNTRY.

IN LIFE THERE IS OFTEN A ROLL CALL AND YOU HAVE TO MAKE A DECISION. TO BE . . . . OR . . . TO DO.

I CAN PROMISE YOU . . .  THAT AT SOME POINT IN YOUR CAREER, YOU WILL HAVE TO CHOOSE. TO BE . . . OR TO DO.

WHICH WAY WILL YOU GO?

THANK YOU.