Soldiers

I've met a lot of soldiers over the past several weeks, and I've realized that most of them are really, really good guys. Today I got to see a reenlistment ceremony, which I found more powerful than I expected. I was in a fairly dangerous area of Iraq, and these guys are voluntarily joining up for another several years knowing that the first part of that time will be spent in scary circumstances. Since I've never had any military connection and grew up in a fairly anti-military environment (oh Berkeley...), this probably surprised me more than it would an average American.

The other part of today that made an effect on my was a top general's interaction with a platoon leader. When generals visit combat outposts, they generally bring small commemorative coins to present to people doing an especially good job. In this case, Gen. Rick Lynch, who essentially commands everything south of Baghdad, was presenting coins to two specialists and their direct supervisor. While Lynch was giving the coins to the specialists, the platoon leader was just beaming. But then Lynch turned to give a coin to him, and he got extremely uncomfortable. He stammered something to the effect of "Oh, thank you sir, but I'd rather you just recognize my guys without me. They're the ones who carry the load." Of course, Lynch insisted on giving him one, and although he accepted it he was clearly uncomfortable with the recognition. He kept turning the coin over in his hands looking extremely distressed, torn between wanting to be respectful and being unhappy about being elevated in that way.

As the platoon leader was contemplating what to do with this coin, another one of his soldiers walked up just as Lynch was turning away. The platoon leader's eyes brightened, and he turned to the soldier. He handed him the coin, saying "Gen. Lynch wanted to give this to you, but I told him you were working too hard to come out." The soldier, who was probably 19 or 20, looked thrilled, and the platoon leader looked totally relieved that he had found a solution. It was refreshing to see someone who was so committed to recognizing the people below him rather than himself.