Author Chris Brady's Blog

Nazi Propaganda

Throughout history, one of the key ingredients in waging an unjust war is the tight-fisted control of information to those whose support the tyrant was required to retain.  In order to wage an unjust war, and to make one's actions appear not only acceptable but justifiable, the tyrannical force needs to lay a continuing foundation of false beliefs upon which to operate. 

Perhaps the most dramatic example of this is what occurred under the Third Reich in Germany during World War II.  Adolph Hitler is famous for "the Big Lie" theory, which basically involves telling a lie so enormous that nobody would ever believe you would risk making up something so preposterous. 

The Nazi propaganda machine followed the strategy of mis-information to a tee.  First of all, it needed a scapegoat.  For this, they found the Jews.  Secondly, they needed an event.  For this, they had the Treaty of Versailles, which they famously thought was unfair and laid a harsh burden upon Germany for starting World War I (which it did, and which they did)! 

Armed with a focal point and a scapegoat, the Nazi propaganda machine spun into high gear, attempting to "spin" the story to fit its desired ends.  In doing so, the Nazis certainly satisfied the "Big Lie" theory, acting like they were only doing what was justified when in fact they were doing what was unimaginable. 

It all began with economics.  First, the Nazis blamed their financial woes on the Jews.  Instead of having to face the fact that they had started a World War, and were caught up in a depression that had not only engulfed Germany, but the entire world, the Nazis instead found it convenient to blame the Jews.  Instead of facing their own responsibility for the mess they were in and working on solutions, they found someone to blame. 

Next the Nazis built up the concept of "protection" from their enemies.  They understood the power of fear in making people take leave of their common sense, and they played upon it shamelessly.  After all, it is not easy to entice an entire civilization to butcher another (or to at least turn its head while it is happening), so to accomplish this, they needed to strike fear in the heart of the average German citizen.  This was accomplished by talking about the power of Germany's enemies, and the need to "protect" the people from these terrible enemies.  After all, hadn't Germany's enemies devastated the businesses of a number of German citizens?  Hadn't the enemies of Germany jeopardized the livelihoods of thousands of German people?  The Nazi party had gone to war because it had to, in order to protect the interests of innocent German citizens everywhere.  Wasn't the economic decline felt by Germany the fault of someone else? 

Further, the Nazi propaganda machine was designed to build morale, even when the Nazi cause was failing miserably, when the world was finding out about its shady, hidden operations, and when its armies were being crushed in the field.  The way this was done was by very craftily telling the German people over and over again that the Nazis were winning.  No matter what happened in the court of world opinion, the Nazi government would tell its trapped citizens that it was winning, and that anything that didn't appear to be a victory was either lies from its enemies, rumors, reverse-propaganda, or the like.  As long as the Nazi government could "spin" events into appearing to be victories, it thought it could keep its people fooled.

This whole strategy worked very well for a time.  But a house of cards cannot stand forever.  As the Allied armies pushed further into the German interior, and as the losses became more and more substantial, and as the failed ideology of blaming a nation's entire host of problems on a small group of people began to play itself out, the world was finally allowed a glance into a horror it could not have conceived.  As the truth became known, it was so despicable, so terrible, so horrifying, that one wonders how monstors like Joseph Goebbels (one of Germany's head propagandists), could sleep at night.  The lies, the mistreatment of an innocent people, the butchery, are a stain on Germany's (and mankind's) history that will never be erased or forgotten. 

Goebbels and Hitler and the Nazis are all dead and gone.  But the legacy of their lies remain.  And that becomes a lesson for any leader:

Lies outlive spin.

And as the Bible says, be sure that the truth will find you out.

Leaders everywhere can learn a valuable lesson from this negative example.  Leaders deal in truth, honesty, integrity, character, and what author Jim Collins calls "confronting brutal reality."  Anything less than this is not leadership.  And if it's not leadership, it's not worthy to be followed. 

Launching an Armada - Buyer Beware

Philip II of Spain's father was a brilliant soldier and statesman named Charles V, and when he passed on, he left the world's largest empire in the hands of his son.  Philip had been trained since childhood in the arts of leadership and diplomacy.  At age sixteen he was made Regent of Spain.  His "marriage of conquest" was to the Queen of England, Mary Tudor (known to history as "Bloody Mary" for her butchery of Protestants).  Philip was handed the world's largest empire, encompassing the largest territory, the most colonies, the best ports, and access to more natural resources than any other country.  But during his long reign, he would manage to squander away his position atop the world's heap of power, and through his mistakes, allow a fledgling little island country led by an indecisive Queen to plant the seeds that would grow into world dominance.

What happened?

You might not be surprised to learn that it came down to leadership.

A quasi-war of sorts had been waged between England and Spain for decades.  Queen Elizabeth's "gentleman pirates," including Francis Drake, John Hawkins, Walter Raliegh, Martin Frobisher, and Charles Howard, had pecked and picked away at Spain's holdings in the New World, and had managed to disrupt and even steal large amounts of South American treasure bound for Spain's coffers.  Drake's circumnavigation of the globe and capture of one of Spain's largest treasure galleons was only one example of the daring feats the English carried out at Spain's expense.  In the meantime, King Philip was behind numerous assassination attempts directly aimed at Queen Elizabeth, and the two countries were at war against each other for the religious choice of the people of the Netherlands. 

When Queen Elizabeth sentenced Mary, Queen of Scots, to death for treason (a confirmed assassination attempt on Elizabeth), it brought the two countries to the edge of declared war.  Philip began preparations to amass a large "armada" of ships that would sail in something called The Enterprise of England.  The "Enterprise" was supposed to be a secret plan to attack the island of England itself, but the large-scale buildup of supplies and ships in Spain's ports could hardly go unnoticed.  Sir Francis Drake was able to delay the launch of the Armada by at least a year by attacking and destroying a major fleet of ships and supplies in the port of Cadiz.

Then, somehow, peace negotiations were proferred.  Diplomats from both sides began testing the waters for terms of settlement.  Queen Elizabeth, despite violent opposition from nearly every one of her advisors, was extremely interested in a peaceful settlement.  England was a small island country, by no means able to match the enormous wealth and stature of Spain, and it had virtually no way to defend itself should armed forces actually land on her shores.  Queen Elizabeth was also a bit of a realist, and she understood the enormous cost of fighting the world's only Super Power in a protracted war.  For these reasons, she was able to make huge concessions for the peace process as long as they didn't compromise her principles and the things she had promised her people.

King Philip, however, was not disposed towards peace.  He sat atop the World's richest empire, its largest military, he held most of Europe under his control, he had recently annexed Portugal and with it enormous territory in the East Indies to add to his dominance in the West Indies.  According to author Neil Hanson, "Philip's correspondance shows that he gave not the slightest throught to any compromise.  He could have had peace in the Netherlands on several occasions, but [as Philip said himself], 'With regard to Holland and Zealand or any other province or towns, the first step must be for them to receive and maintain alone the exercises of the Catholic religion and to subject themselves to the Roman church, without tolerating the exercise of any other religion . . . There is to be no flaw, no change, no concession by convention or otherwise of liberty of conscience or religious peace, or anything of that sort.'" 

Although Elizabeth was all for the concession of allowing religious tolerance, Philip was dead against any "liberty of conscience" whatsoever.  It became a classic struggle of tyranny versus freedom of choice, of big versus small, Goliath pushing around David.  Again, according to Hanson, "[the entire conflict] was partly about money . . . partly about political and dynastic imperatives, and partly about the loss of face that Philip had suffered through attacks on his own coast, but it was also genuinely driven by religious fundamentalism and Philip's obsession with restoration of Europe to the Catholic faith.  A flexible and pragmatic ruler in his youth, he was now a stubborn and dogmatic old man, brooding alone . . . . the only solution that would satisfy him would be the overthrow of Elizabeth and the total destruction of the Dutch rebellion."

Instead of negotiating for peace in good faith, Philip played games.  In his own words: "I declare that my intention is that these negotiations shall never lead to any result, whatever conditions the English may offer.  On the contrary, the only object is to deceive them and to cool them in their preparations for defense, by making them believe such preperations will not be necessary." 

Analyzing the details of this history, we see that Philip's fatal choice to launch the Armada against England came from the following four factors:

1. money

2. political and dynastic imperatives (nepotism and power)

3. the loss of face (pride)

4. religious fundamentalism (tyranny and the suppression of freedom)

The details of the Armada, its mammoth size, its incredible expense to Spain's treasury, and its resulting failure, are story enough for a future post.  But the launching and failure of the Spanish Armada in 1588 represented the "high water mark" in the world-dominance of Spain.  Its cost, and its loss of prestige for Spain throughout the world, were blows too large from which to recover.  Even though Philip had inherited the world's largest power from his father, he would hand it on as a much reduced, debt-ridden, and shrinking power.  England, a tiny island country, would rise on the ashes of the fading Spain and over the course of time would rise to become the world's largest empire, and it would hold that position for a long time until one of its former colonies, The United States of America, would gain that postion in the twentieth century.  The entire period from the Armada in the sixteenth century to the beginning of World War I, with the American Revolution as the sole exception, would witness the rise and dominance of Great Britain as the world's pre-eminent empire.

Leadership is critical to the success of any endeavor.  Leaders lead best when motivated by visions that build up instead of destroy, that seek to help rather than hinder, and that become more concerned about what can be accomplished than by who can be oppressed.  In the case of Philip II of Spain, his motivations were all wrong.  Money, power, pride, and oppression of the freedoms of others became the seeds of his own destruction.  At many points along the way he could have made an acceptable peace with a smaller, but stubbornly principled and belliegerent nation - but he would have nothing of it.  It was all or nothing for Philip.  He made his choice accordingly, and his empire dwindled to insignificance as a result. 

Remember the story of the Armada as you lead in your life.  Be careful of your motivations.  Never get suckered into believing that oppressing the freedoms of others, grabbing for money, fighting for power, or struggling to regain "lost" pride are worthy pursuits.  Don't get fooled into launching your own "Enterprise of England."  If you do, you can rely on having to face a Sir Francis Drake, a Sir Walter Raliegh, or any number of individual privateers who will take to the waters to oppose you.  And never underestimate the power of a storm or two to dash your ships on the rocky shores.

It's much better to lead from a position of integrity, to fight for good, to stand for freedom, and to defend the individual and his or her rights.  That's the side on which all the heroes of history have found themselves.  That's the side on which the true leaders live!

Lead on, and if you lead for good, fear no Armada that comes against you!   

   

    

Alvin York - A Hero Leader

Alvin York is perhaps America's most famous World War One personality.  In the following short biography, his exploits are clearly represented, and the myth is well separated from the man.  Many points along his journey are very illustrative of the life of a leader, and my comments are in blue.

Alvin York (from Dr. Birdwell and the York Institute website)

Known as the greatest [American] hero of World War I, York avoided profiting from his war record before 1939. Born December 13, 1887 in a two-room dogtrot log cabin in Pall Mall, Tennessee, and raised in a rural backwater in the northern section of Fentress County, York was a semi-skilled laborer when drafted in 1917. Quite literally having never traveled more than fifty miles from his home, York's war experience served as an epiphany awakening him to a more complex world.

Many leaders don't realize the full scale of the task God has before them.  We don't determine our destinies; we discover them.

The third oldest of a family of eleven children, the York family eked out a hardscrabble existence of subsistence farming supplemented by hunting, and York became a competent marksman at an early age. Living in a region that saw little need for education, York had a grand total of nine-months schooling at a subscription school he attended in his youth. York's father, William York (who died in 1911), also acted as a part time blacksmith to provide some extra income for the family. Prior to the advent of the World War, York was employed as a day laborer on the railroad near Harriman. As a result, York had little experience with managing money and later suffered from chronic fiscal problems. (York spent money when he had it, gave it away to other people who he believed needed it, and invested poorly).

As York came of age he earned a reputation as a deadly accurate shot and a hell raiser. Drinking and gambling in borderline bars known as "Blind Tigers," York was generally considered a nuisance and someone who "would never amount to anything." That reputation underwent a serious overhaul when York experienced a religious conversion in 1914. In that year two significant events occurred: his best friend, Everett Delk, was killed in a bar fight in Static, Kentucky; and he attended a revival conducted by H.H. Russell of the Church of Christ in Christian Union. Delk's senseless death convinced York that he needed to change his ways or suffer a fate similar to his fallen comrade, which prompted him to attend the prayer meeting.

In the lives of many leaders occurs a "wake up call."  These tumultuous events, though painful at the time, often lead to radical change in the lives of a future leader and become the foundation for later achievement and character strength.

A strict fundamentalist sect with a following limited to three states--Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee--the Church of Christ in Christian Union espoused a strict moral code which forbade drinking, dancing, movies, swimming, swearing, popular literature, and moral injunctions against violence and war. Though raised Methodist, York joined the Church of Christ in Christian Union and in the process convinced one of his best friends, Rosier Pile, to join as well. Blessed with a melodious singing voice, York became the song leader and a Sunday School teacher at the local church. Rosier Pile went on to become the church's pastor. The church also brought York in contact with the girl who would become his wife, Gracie Williams.

By most accounts, York's conversion was sincere and complete. He quit drinking, gambling, and fighting. When the United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, York's new found faith would be tested. York received his draft notice from his friend, the postmaster and pastor, Rosier Pile, on June 5, 1917, just six months prior to his thirtieth birthday. Because of the Church of Christ in Christian Union's proscriptions against war, Pile encouraged York to seek conscientious objector status. York wrote on his draft card: "Dont [sic] want to fight." When his case came up for review it was denied at both the local and the state level because the Church of Christ in Christian Union was not recognized as a legitimate Christian sect.

Leaders often try to resist their calling without even realizing it.  The more we try to shape events, the more they sometimes shape us.

Though a would-be conscientious objector, drafted at age thirty, York in many ways typified the underprivileged, under-educated conscript who traveled to France to "keep the world safe for democracy." With great reservations, York embarked for Camp Gordon, Georgia to receive his basic training. A member of Company G in the 328th Infantry attached to the 82nd Division (also known as the "All American Division) York established himself as a curiosity--an excellent marksman who had no stomach for war. After weeks of debate and counseling, York relented to his company commander, G. Edward Buxton, that there are times when war is moral and ordained by God, and he agreed to fight.

Leaders must be sold out to the cause in order to be effective.  Halfheartedness is not in them.  Also, it is extremely painful for a leader to be forced into acting against his or her conscience.  As the saying goes, for a true leader, their "heart has to be in it."

Also, leaders don't have a "lock" on knowledge.  Sometimes, new information or circumstances alter previously firmly-held convictions.  Leaders are not too big to experience a change of mind if confronted with compelling evidence. 

York's role as hero went beyond his exploit in the Argonne and continues to both inspire and confound. On October 8, 1918, Corporal Alvin C. York and sixteen other soldiers under the command of Sergeant Bernard Early were dispatched before sunrise to take command of the Decauville railroad behind Hill 223 in the Chatel-Chehery sector of the Meuse-Argonne sector. The seventeen men, due to a misreading of their map (which was in French, not English) mistakenly wound up behind enemy lines. A brief fire fight ensued which resulted in the confusion and the unexpected surrender of a superior German force to the seventeen soldiers. Once the Germans realized that the American contingent was limited, machine gunners on the hill overlooking the scene turned the gun away from the front and toward their own troops. After ordering the German soldiers to lie down, the machine gun opened fire resulting in the deaths of nine Americans, including York's best friend in the outfit, Murray Savage. Sergeant Early received seventeen bullet wounds and turned the command over to corporals Harry Parsons and William Cutting, who ordered York to silence the machine gun. York was successful and when all was said and done, nine men had captured 132 prisoners.

Leaders are required to face an "unfair" load.  They will be forced to act upon incomplete information in times of uncertainty against enemies dead-set on their destruction.  Leaders not only survive, but thrive in such environments.

That York deserves credit for his heroism is without question. Unfortunately, however, his exploit has been blown out of proportion with some accounts claiming that he silenced thirty-five machine guns and captured 132 prisoners single-handedly. York never claimed that he acted alone, nor was he proud of what he did. Twenty-five Germans lay dead, and by his accounting, York was responsible for at least nine of the deaths. Only two of the seven survivors were acknowledged for their participation in the event; Sergeant Early and Corporal Cutting were finally awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1927.

A leader's exploits sometimes grow into legend, bumble leaders give away credit.  And what is common among many true heroes: when questioned about their endeavors, they don't understand why everybody makes such a big deal out of them.  Their attitude is that they were just doing their duty, and anybody else would have done the same thing.   

York's war exploit typified that of the nineteenth century American hero. He appeared larger than life and was most often compared to three peculiarly American icons: Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, and Abraham Lincoln. Literally growing up in a quasi-frontier existence tucked away in a remote Tennessee backwater unscathed by industrialized America, York was born and raised in a log cabin near the Tennessee-Kentucky border--a region which bore no resemblance to the break-neck bustle of New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles--so York seemed to belong to another more idyllic time. As late as 1917, he hunted squirrel, raccoon, quail, wild boar and deer with a muzzle-loader. York's life caught fire in the American imagination not because of who he was, but what he symbolized: a humble, self-reliant, God-fearing, taciturn patriot who slowly moved to action only when sufficiently provoked and then adamantly refused to capitalize on his fame. Ironically, York also represented a rejection of mechanization and modernization through his dependence upon personal skill. George Pattullo, the Saturday Evening Post reporter who broke the story, focused on the religio-patriotic nature of York's feat. He titled his piece The Second Elder Gives Battle, referring to York's status in his home congregation in Pall Mall, Tennessee.

Leaders inspire more by who they are than by what they do. Notice how the author describes York in this section: humble, self-reliant, God-fearing, patriotic, dangerous when provoked by a righteous cause, and incorruptible.  The reluctant leader is nearly always the most effective.  Leaders who desire power, status, prestige, and wealth are not basing their desire upon hunger but rather upon ambition.  True leaders desire change, growth, service to others, and lasting influence for good.  Many, many times throughout history we see very reluctant leaders rise to greatness on the strength of their convictions and the goodness of their "hungers." 

Another subtle message in this section: reluctant leaders are extremely dangerous when pushed to the brink.  If convinced of their cause they will stop at nothing short of victory.  Enemies and obstructors may at first underestimate them, but they do so at their own peril.  True leaders will fight to the death for a cause in which they believe deeply.

For his actions, York was singled out as the greatest individual soldier of the war and when he returned home in 1919 he was wooed by Hollywood, Broadway, and various advertisers who wanted his endorsement of their products. York turned his back on quick and certain fortune in 1919, and went home to Tennessee to resume peacetime life. Largely unknown to most Americans was the fact that Alvin York returned to America with a single vision. He wanted to provide a practical educational opportunity for the mountain boys and girls of Tennessee. Understanding that to prosper in the modern world an education was necessary, York sought to bring Fentress County into the twentieth century. Thousands of like-minded veterans returned from France with similar sentiments and as a result college enrollments shot up immediately after the war.

Again, leaders viewpoints can change in the face of overwhelming evidence.  Also, the more experience a leader gains, the more hungry he or she is to learn.  Knowledge and learning become one of a leader's top priorities, and the joy of sharing this desire with others is strong.

Throughout the 1920s York went on speaking tours to endorse his hopes for education and raise money for York Institute. He also became interested in state and national politics. A Democrat in a staunchly Republican county, York's endorsement carried a degree of clout for pols. York used his celebrity to improve roads, employment, and education in his home county.

York receded from the national spotlight during the 1930s, and focused his waning political aspirations on the state rather than the local level. He considered running for the U.S. Senate against the freshman senator, Albert Gore (the dude's been around a long time.  Must have been back then that he started creating the Internet). In the 1932 election, he changed his party affiliation and supported Herbert Hoover over Franklin D. Roosevelt because FDR promised to repeal Prohibition. Once the New Deal got underway, however, York returned to the Democratic party and endorsed the president's relief efforts, especially the C.C.C. and the W.P.A. In 1939, York was appointed superintendent of the Cumberland Homesteads near Crossville.

In 1935 York delivered a sermon entitled, Christian Cure for Strife, which argued that the vigilant Christian should ignore current world events, because Europe stood poised on the brink of another war and Americans should avoid it at all costs. Recalling his career as a soldier, York renounced America's involvement in World War I. In order to achieve world peace, Americans must first secure it at home beginning with their own families. The church and the home, therefore, represented the cornerstones of world peace.

Leaders understand that the only person they can control is themselves, and that all organizational change occurs at the level of the individual first.  Leaders care about others and disdain anything that brings harm.  When away from "the battle" they can temporarily forget "the beast" that makes the battle necessary in the first place, and this can cloud judgment.

At the same time, the threat of war had rekindled the interest of some filmmakers, most notably Jesse L. Lasky, into reviving the story of York's exploits during World War I. Lasky, having witnessed the famous New York reception of the hero from his eighth floor office window in May of 1919 had wanted then to tell York's story. While several other studios found interest in York's saga in 1919, only Jesse Lasky of Famous Players Paramount (later associated with Twentieth Century-Fox, and finally Warner Brothers) had persistently pursued him. In the late 1930s the world once again appeared on the verge of war and the official stance of the United States government was reminiscent of York's initial attitude toward the first World War. America (in 1939) and York (in 1917) both had to be convinced that war was not only justifiable, but sometimes necessary.

When York at last relented, he announced that the film would "be a true picture of my life...my contributions since the war. It won't be a war picture. I don't like war pictures." Yet the film that bears his name definitely was a war picture. The original screenplay presented the war as an epiphany for York which forced him to recognize his own inadequacies but fulfilled his wish to improve himself and his homeland. The motion picture that arrived in movie theaters in July of 1941 not only signaled a profound change in York's pacifism but sounded the clarion for American involvement in World War II.

York's heartfelt belief that war represented moral evil never wavered before his association with Lasky and the Warner Brothers. In 1937, York not only condemned war but also questioned America's involvement in the First World War. In that same year, York joined the Emergency Peace Campaign which lobbied against any U.S. involvement in the growing tensions in Europe. A pious peaceful man, York had fought his country's enemy only after great deliberation and had to be convinced that war was sometimes necessary. His personal struggle in World War I found new resonance in an America at odds over the recent European war, for York personified isolationist Christian America wrestling with its conscience over whether or not to engage in the current war abroad.

Leaders enter the battle reluctantly, and again, must be totally convinced that it is right before they fight.  Always willing to try to accomplish justice with peace, true heroes know, however, that there are times when a fight is justified.  Peace without justice is not peace, but slavery and cowardice birthed in ignorance.

Because the Church of Christ in Christian Union condemned movies as sinful, Lasky had a tough time convincing York that a film based on his life was justified. York finally agreed when he decided that the money made from the film could be used to create an interdenominational Bible school. As the film progressed the focus of the project changed and York's war exploit gained prominence. Through York's association with Lasky and Warner Brothers, he became convinced that Hitler represented the personification of evil in the world and turned belligerent. York's conversion to interventionism was so complete that he wholeheartedly agreed with General George C. Marshall that the U.S. should institute its first peacetime draft. Governor Prentice Cooper approved York's endorsement by naming him chief executive of the Fentress County Draft Board, and appointed him to the Tennessee Preparedness Committee to help prepare for wartime.

Though slow to anger, true leaders awake like sleeping giants once they become convinced of injustice.  They throw themselves wholeheartedly into the cause because they hate evil and injustice.  Throughout history, the strain of hunger is consistent: leaders can't stand oppression, evil, cruelty, injustice, and tyranny.  Some of the world's greatest leaders have come to the fore in times when these things were flourishing. 

In 1940-41, York joined the Fight for Freedom Committee which combated the isolationist stance of America First, and York became one of its most vocal members. Up until Pearl Harbor, York battled another legendary American hero, the man who symbolized America First to the general public, Charles Lindbergh. Meantime, the film Sergeant York starring Gary Cooper, became one of the top grossing Warner Brothers films of the entire war era and earned Cooper the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1942.

Once a leader buys into a cause, he or she is "all the way in."

During the war, York attempted to reenlist in the infantry but could not do so due to age and obesity. Instead, through an affiliation with the Signal Corps, York traveled the country on bond tours, recruitment drives, and camp inspections. Ironically, the Bible school that was built with the proceeds from the movie opened in 1942, but the very people the school was intended for had either enlisted in the armed services or moved north to work in defense related industries. The school closed in 1943 never to reopen.

Not all dreams come true.  Leaders must be aware of that and continue on regardless.

York's health began to deteriorate after the war and in 1954 he suffered from a stroke that would leave him bedridden for the remainder of his life. In 1951, the Internal Revenue Service accused York of tax evasion regarding profits earned from the movie. Unfortunately, York was practically destitute in 1951. He spent the next ten years wrangling with the IRS, which led Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn and Congressman Joe L. Evins to establish the York Relief Fund to help cancel the debt. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy ordered that the matter be resolved and considered the IRS's actions in the case to be a national disgrace. The relief fund paid the IRS $100,000 and placed $30,000 in trust to be used in the family's best interest.

York died on September 2, 1964 and was buried with full military honors in the Pall Mall cemetery. His funeral was attended by Governor Frank G. Clement and General Matthew Ridgway as President Lyndon B. Johnson's official representative. He was survived by seven children and his widow.

When asked how he wanted to be remembered, the old sergeant said he wanted people to remember how he tried to improve basic education in Tennessee because he considered a solid education the true key to success. It saddened him somewhat that only one of his children went on to college, but he was proud of the fact that they all had received high school diplomas from York Institute. Most people, of course, do not remember him as a proponent for public education. York's memory is forever tied to Gary Cooper's laconic screen portrayal of the mountain hero and the myth surrounding his military exploits in the Argonne in 1918.

Alvin York's story is a great illustration of the principles of leadership at work.  We see a humble, good-natured, God-fearing man who is time and again pushed to the brink of his convictions and forced to fight against evils he hates.  Not relishing the battle, nor the glory that accompanies it, he nevertheless pushes ahead and accomplishes incredible feats of heroism, refusing to capitalize on even his own exploits unless they can be turned for the good of others.  On more than one occasion he had to battle strongly with his conscience, making sure he knew what he fought for before he fully engaged: but once engaged, his focus was complete and his effectiveness near legendary.

A leader is remembered more for who he is than for what he does.  And we are still talking about Alvin York and what he stood for nearly a century later. 

Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One

Benjamin Franklin was always a master of satire.  During the early stages of the American Revolution he penned what I believe to be one of his funniest and most biting works.  It is my favorite.  I hope you enjoy it (I'm sure King George did)!

[Presented privately to a _late Minister_, when he entered upon his Administration; and now first published.]

An ancient Sage valued himself upon this, that tho' he could not fiddle, he knew how to make a _great City_ of a _little one_. The Science that I, a modern Simpleton, am about to communicate is the very reverse.

I address myself to all Ministers who have the Management of extensive Dominions, which from their very Greatness are become troublesome to govern, because the Multiplicity of their Affairs leaves no Time for _fiddling_.

I. In the first Place, Gentlemen, you are to consider, that a great Empire, like a great Cake, is most easily diminished at the Edges. Turn your Attention therefore first to your remotest Provinces; that as you get rid of them, the next may follow in Order.

II. That the Possibility of this Separation may always exist, take special Care the Provinces are never incorporated with the Mother Country, that they do not enjoy the same common Rights, the same Privileges in Commerce, and that they are governed by _severer_ Laws, all of _your enacting_, without allowing them any Share in the Choice of the Legislators. By carefully making and preserving such Distinctions, you will (to keep to my Simile of the Cake) act like a wise Gingerbread Baker, who, to facilitate a Division, cuts his Dough half through in those Places, where, when bak'd, he would have it _broken to Pieces_.

III. These remote Provinces have perhaps been acquired, purchas'd, or conquer'd, at the _sole Expence_ of the Settlers or their Ancestors, without the Aid of the Mother Country. If this should happen to increase her _Strength_ by their growing Numbers ready to join in her Wars, her _Commerce_ by their growing Demand for her Manufactures, or her _Naval Power_ by greater Employment for her Ships and Seamen, they may probably suppose some Merit in this, and that it entitles them to some Favour; you are therefore to _forget it all_, or resent it as if they had done you Injury. If they happen to be zealous Whigs, Friends of Liberty, nurtur'd in Revolution Principles, _remember all that_ to their Prejudice, and contrive to punish it: For such Principles, after a Revolution is thoroughly established, are of _no more Use_, they are even _odious_ and _abominable_.

IV. However peaceably your Colonies have submitted to your Government, shewn their Affection to your Interest, and patiently borne their Grievances, you are to _suppose_ them always inclined to revolt, and treat them accordingly. Quarter Troops among them, who by their Insolence may _provoke_ the rising of Mobs, and by their Bullets and Bayonets _suppress_ them. By this Means, like the Husband who uses his Wife ill _from Suspicion_, you may in Time convert your _S uspicions_ into _Realities_.

V. Remote Provinces must have _Governors_, and _Judges_, to represent the Royal Person, and execute every where the delegated Parts of his Office and Authority. You Ministers know, that much of the Strength of Government depends on the _Opinion_ of the People; and much of that Opinion on the Choice of Rulers placed immediately over them. If you send them wise and good Men for Governors, who study the Interest of the Colonists, and advance their Prosperity, they will think their King wise and good, and that he wishes the Welfare of his Subjects. If you send them learned and upright Men for Judges, they will think him a Lover of Justice. This may attach your Provinces more to his Government. You are therefore to be careful who you recommend for those Offices. -- If you can find Prodigals who have ruined their Fortunes, broken Gamesters or Stock-Jobbers, these may do well as _Governors_; for they will probably be rapacious, and provoke the People by their Extortions. Wrangling Proctors and petty-fogging Lawyers too are not amiss, for they will be for ever disputing and quarrelling with their little Parliaments. If withal they should be ignorant, wrong-headed and insolent, so much the better. Attorneys Clerks and Newgate Solicitors will do for _Chief-Justices_, especially if they hold their Places _during your Pleasure_: -- And all will contribute to impress those ideas of your Government that are proper for a People _you would wish to renounce it_.

VI. To confirm these Impressions, and strike them deeper, whenever the Injured come to the Capital with Complaints of Mal-administration, Oppression, or Injustice, punish such Suitors with long Delay, enormous Expence, and a final Judgment in Favour of the Oppressor. This will have an admirable Effect every Way. The Trouble of future Complaints will be prevented, and Governors and Judges will be encouraged to farther Acts of Oppression and Injustice; and thence the People may become more disaffected, _and at length desperate_.

VII. When such Governors have crammed their Coffers, and made themselves so odious to the People that they can no longer remain among them with Safety to their Persons, recall and _reward_ them with Pensions. You may make them _Baronets_ too, if that respectable Order should not think fit to resent it. All will contribute to encourage new Governors in the same Practices, and make the supreme Government _detestable_.

VIII. If when you are engaged in War, your Colonies should vie in liberal Aids of Men and Money against the common Enemy, upon your simple Requisition, and give far beyond their Abilities, reflect, that a Penny taken from them by your Power is more honourable to you than a Pound presented by their Benevolence. Despise therefore their voluntary Grants, and resolve to harrass them with novel Taxes. They will probably complain to your Parliaments that they are taxed by a Body in which they have no Representative, and that this is contrary to common Right. They will petition for Redress. Let the Parliaments flout their Claims, reject their Petitions, refuse even to suffer the reading of them, and treat the Petitioners with the utmost Contempt. Nothing can have a better Effect, in producing the Alienation proposed; for though many can forgive Injuries, _none ever forgave Contempt_.

IX. In laying these Taxes, never regard the heavy Burthens those remote People already undergo, in defending their own Frontiers, supporting their own provincial Governments, making new Roads, building Bridges, Churches and other public Edifices, which in old Countries have been done to your Hands by your Ancestors, but which occasion constant Calls and Demands on the Purses of a new People. Forget the _Restraints_ you lay on their Trade for _your own_ Benefit, and the Advantage a _Monopoly_ of this Trade gives your exacting Merchants. Think nothing of the Wealth those Merchants and your Manufacturers acquire by the Colony Commerce; their encreased Ability thereby to pay Taxes at home; their accumulating, in the Price of their Commodities, most of those Taxes, and so levying them from their consuming Customers: All this, and the Employment and Support of Thousands of your Poor by the Colonists, you are _intirely to forget_. But remember to make your arbitrary Tax more grievous to your Provinces, by public Declarations importing that your Power of taxing them has _no Limits_, so that when you take from them without their Consent a Shilling in the Pound, you have a clear Right to the other nineteen. This will probably weaken every Idea of _Security in their Property_, and convince them that under such a Government _they have nothing they can call their own_; which can scarce fail of producing _the happiest Consequences_!

X. Possibly indeed some of them might still comfort themselves, and say, `Though we have no Property, we have yet _something_ left that is valuable; we have constitutional _Liberty_ both of Person and of Conscience. This King, these Lords, and these Commons, who it seems are too remote from us to know us and feel for us, cannot take from us our _Habeas_ _Corpus_ Right, or our Right of Trial _by a Jury of our Neighbours_: They cannot deprive us of the Exercise of our Religion, alter our ecclesiastical Constitutions, and compel us to be Papists if they please, or Mahometans.' To annihilate this Comfort, begin by Laws to perplex their Commerce with infinite Regulations impossible to be remembered and observed; ordain Seizures of their Property for every Failure; take away the Trial of such Property by Jury, and give it to arbitrary Judges of your own appointing, and of the lowest Characters in the Country, whose Salaries and Emoluments are to arise out of the Duties or Condemnations, and whose Appointments are _during Pleasure_. Then let there be a formal Declaration of both Houses, that Opposition to your Edicts is _Treason_, and that Persons suspected of Treason in the Provinces may, according to some obsolete Law, be seized and sent to the Metropolis of the Empire for Trial; and pass an Act that those there charged with certain other Offences shall be sent away in Chains from their Friends and Country to be tried in the same Manner for Felony. Then erect a new Court of Inquisition among them, accompanied by an armed Force, with Instructions to transport all such suspected Persons, to be ruined by the Expence if they bring over Evidences to prove their Innocence, or be found guilty and hanged if they can't afford it. And lest the People should think you cannot possibly go any farther, pass another solemn declaratory Act, that `King, Lords, and Commons had, hath, and of Right ought to have, full Power and Authority to make Statutes of sufficient Force and Validity to bind the unrepresented Provinces IN ALL CASES WHATSOEVER.' This will include _spiritual_ with temporal; and taken together, must operate wonderfully to your Purpose, by convincing them, that they are at present under a Power something like that spoken of in the Scriptures, which can not only _kill their Bodies_, but _damn their Souls_ to all Eternity, by compelling them, if it pleases, _to worship the Devil_.

XI. To make your Taxes more odious, and more likely to procure Resistance, send from the Capital a Board of Officers to superintend the Collection, composed of the most _indiscreet, ill-bred_ and _insolent_ you can find. Let these have large Salaries out of the extorted Revenue, and live in open grating Luxury upon the Sweat and Blood of the Industrious, whom they are to worry continually with groundless and expensive Prosecutions before the above-mentioned arbitrary Revenue-Judges, all _at the Cost of the Party prosecuted_ tho' acquitted, because _the King is to pay no Costs_. -- Let these Men _by your Order_ be exempted from all the common Taxes and Burthens of the Province, though they and their Property are protected by its Laws. If any Revenue Officers are _suspected_ of the least Tenderness for the People, discard them. If others are justly complained of, protect and reward them. If any of the Under-officers behave so as to provoke the People to drub them, promote those to better Offices: This will encourage others to procure for themselves such profitable Drubbings, by multiplying and enlarging such Provocations, and _all with work towards the End you aim at_.

XII. Another Way to make your Tax odious, is to misapply the Produce of it. If it was originally appropriated for the _Defence_ of the Provinces and the better Support of Government, and the Administration of Justice where it may be _necessary_, then apply none of it to that _Defence_, but bestow it where it is _not necessary_, in augmented Salaries or Pensions to every Governor who has distinguished himself by his Enmity to the People, and by calumniating them to their Sovereign. This will make them pay it more unwillingly, and be more apt to quarrel with those that collect it, and those that imposed it, who will quarrel again with them, and all shall contribute to your _main Purpose_ of making them _weary of your Government_.

XIII. If the People of any Province have been accustomed to support their own Governors and Judges to Satisfaction, you are to apprehend that such Governors and Judges may be thereby influenced to treat the People kindly, and to do them Justice. This is another Reason for applying Part of that Revenue in larger Salaries to such Governors and Judges, given, as their Commissions are, _during your Pleasure_ only, forbidding them to take any Salaries from their Provinces; that thus the People may no longer hope any Kindness from their Governors, or (in Crown Cases) any Justice from their Judges. And as the Money thus mis-applied in one Province is extorted from all, probably _all will resent the Mis-application_.

XIV. If the Parliaments of your Provinces should dare to claim Rights or complain of your Administration, order them to be harass'd with repeated _Dissolutions_. If the same Men are continually return'd by new Elections, adjourn their Meetings to some Country Village where they cannot be accommodated, and there keep them _during Pleasure_; for this, you know, is your PREROGATIVE; and an excellent one it is, as you may manage it, to promote Discontents among the People, diminish their Respect, and _increase their Dis-affection_.

XV. Convert the brave honest Officers of your Navy into pimping Tide-waiters and Colony Officers of the Customs. Let those who in Time of War fought gallantly in Defence of the Commerce of their Countrymen, in Peace be taught to prey upon it. Let them learn to be corrupted by great and real Smugglers, but (to shew their Diligence) scour with armed Boats every Bay, Harbour, River, Creek, Cove or Nook throughout the Coast of your Colonies, stop and detain every Coaster, every Wood-boat, every Fisherman, tumble their Cargoes, and even their Ballast, inside out and upside down; and if a Penn'orth of Pins is found un-entered, let the Whole be seized and confiscated. Thus shall the Trade of your Colonists suffer more from their Friends in Time of Peace, than it did from their Enemies in War. Then let these Boats Crews land upon every Farm in their Way, rob the Orchards, steal the Pigs and Poultry, and insult the Inhabitants. If the injured and exasperated Farmers, unable to procure other Justice, should attack the Agressors, drub them and burn their Boats, you are to call this _High Treason_ and _Rebellion_, order Fleets and Armies into their Country, and threaten to carry all the Offenders three thousand Miles to be hang'd, drawn and quartered. _O! this will work admirably!_

XVI. If you are told of Discontents in your Colonies, never believe that they are general, or that you have given Occasion for them; therefore do not think of applying any Remedy, or of changing any offensive Measure. Redress no Grievance, lest they should be encouraged to demand the Redress of some other Grievance. Grant no Request that is just and reasonable, lest they should make another that is unreasonable. Take all your Informations of the State of the Colonies from your Governors and Officers in Enmity with them. Encourage and reward these _Leasing-makers_; secrete their lying Accusations lest they should be confuted; but act upon them as the clearest Evidence, and believe nothing you hear from the Friends of the People. Suppose all _their_ Complaints to be invented and promoted by a few factious Demagogues, whom if you could catch and hang, all would be quiet. Catch and hang a few of them accordingly; and the _Blood of the Martyrs_ shall _work Miracles_ in favour of your Purpose.

XVII. If you see _rival Nations_ rejoicing at the Prospect of your Disunion with your Provinces, and endeavouring to promote it: If they translate, publish and applaud all the Complaints of your discontented Colonists, at the same Time privately stimulating you to severer Measures; let not that _alarm_ or offend you. Why should it? since you all mean _the same Thing_.

XVIII. If any Colony should at their own Charge erect a Fortress to secure their Port against the Fleets of a foreign Enemy, get your Governor to betray that Fortress into your Hands. Never think of paying what it cost the Country, for that would _look_, at least, like some Regard for Justice; but turn it into a Citadel to awe the Inhabitants and curb their Commerce. If they should have lodged in such Fortress the very Arms they bought and used to aid you in your Conquests, seize them all, 'twill provoke like _Ingratitude_ added to _Robbery_. One admirable Effect of these Operations will be, to discourage every other Colony from erecting such Defences, and so their and your Enemies may more easily invade them, to the great Disgrace of your Government, and of course _the Furtherance of your Project_.

XIX. Send Armies into their Country under Pretence of protecting the Inhabitants; but instead of garrisoning the Forts on their Frontiers with those Troops, to prevent Incursions, demolish those Forts, and order the Troops into the Heart of the Country, that the Savages may be encouraged to attack the Frontiers, and that the Troops may be protected by the Inhabitants: This will seem to proceed from your Ill will or your Ignorance, and contribute farther to produce and strengthen an Opinion among them, _that you are no longer fit to govern them._

XX. Lastly, Invest the General of your Army in the Provinces with great and unconstitutional Powers, and free him from the Controul of even your own Civil Governors. Let him have Troops now under his Command, with all the Fortresses in his Possession; and who knows but (like some provincial Generals in the Roman Empire, and encouraged by the universal Discontent you have produced) he may take it into his Head to set up for himself. If he should, and you have carefully practised these few _excellent Rules_ of mine, take my Word for it, all the Provinces will immediately join him, and you will that Day (if you have not done it sooner) get rid of the Trouble of governing them, and all the _Plagues_ attending their _Commerce_ and Connection from thenceforth and for ever. Q. E. D.

Burgoyne's Proclamation

In June of 1777, flamboyant General "gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne initiated his attack on the colonies from Canada.  He commanded over seven thousand infantrymen, a combination of British redcoats and Hessian mercenaries, a small army of artillery specialists and 138 cannon, four hundred Native Americans, and some Canadians and colonial Tories.

Burgoyne was not satisfied with the attacking power of his military force, however, for in addition to it he let loose a barrage of negative press.  Chief among his efforts was a proclamation issued on June 23 in which Burgoyne "accused the leaders of the 'unnatural Rebellion' of perpetrating 'Arbitrary Imprisonments, Confiscation of Property, Persecution and Torture . . . without Distinction of Age or Sex, for the sole Crime . . . of having adhered in Principle to the Government under which they were born.  And if the 'Phrenzy and Hostility should remain, I trust I shall stand acquitted in the Eyes of God and Men in denouncing and executing the Vengeance of the State against the wilful Outcast.'"

Despite his blowhard style, the threats and the condemnations, despite his bragging that he could command the "Vengeance of the State," Burgoyne was utterly defeated and ended up surrendering his entire army.  He failed on many accounts, and he was aided in his failure by the decision of General Howe not to march to his aid.  But although Burgoyne is generally acclaimed as a decent soldier, historians are largely in agreement that he was not a good leader.  His arrogance and self-assuredness on topics in which he was not an expert (though he assumed himself to be), were the seeds of his undoing.  Burgoyne totally underestimated the time and toil required to march a large army through the wilderness, and he missed entirely the strategies of battles in the woods and hills.  He also failed to properly grasp the complexities of dealing with his Native American allies, and this was partly responsible for their desertion of him at an inopportune moment.  Finally, Burgoyne made a beginner's mistake and violated the basic rule of engagement to never divide one's force in the face of an enemy, and split his into three. 

Although bold, brave and extremely perseverant, Burgoyne's weaknesses were too great to overcome.  He lead a brave fight, but cost England dearly.  The combination of Howe's refusal to coordinate strategy with Burgoyne's attack and Burgoyne's own mistakes and false assumptions resulted in an enormous defeat that shocked Europe.  The timely news resulted in increased French involvement in the colonial cause, and a continuing drain on resources and supplies for the English. 

Reading Burgoyne's proclamation of June 23 is almost laughable now. 

The pages of history are littered with individuals who assumed too much about their own competence and then cost their causes, companies, or armies enormously as a result.  But great leaders are humble creatures.  They "know that they don't know," and they spend their lives learning and growing and asking and seeking.  Great leaders are slow to beat their chests and slow to threaten.  Great leaders are all about love, caring, compassion, commitment, and cause.  In the words of theologian Stuart W. Scott, "The qualities that one must strongly possess in order to carry out a leadership role are wisdom, initiative, decisiveness, humility, courage, and personal involvement." Try to imagine an effective leader who is deficient in even one of these categories.  Impossible.  In the case of Burgoyne in the wilderness, he was strongly lacking in two: humility and wisdom.  Curiously, he was quite certain of his own wisdom, thereby failing in the humility category as a result. This was his and his army's undoing.  And ultimately, it lead to the failure of England's iron-fisted rule in the colonies.

Leadership matters!

The Parachute Story - Teamwork

by Charles Plumb

Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason.

Charles Plumb, a US Naval Academy graduate, was a jet fighter pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience.

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"

"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb. "I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude.

The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!" Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today."

Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, "I kept pondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform - a Dixie cup hat, a bib in the back, and bell bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said good morning, how are you or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor."

Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?" Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. Plumb also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory- he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety.

His experience reminds us all to prepare ourselves to weather whatever storms lie ahead. As you go through this week, this month, this year...recognize the people who pack your parachute!

(source: businessfundamentals)

Churchill Overcomes

Winston Churchill is nearly a leadership cliche.  His defiance in the face of Nazi aggression during World War II is deservingly legendary.  But the "back story" behind Sir Winston's rise (and fall, and rise again) is quite incredible.  His story is one of determination, deliberate personal growth, perseverence, courage, and vision. 

Young Winston Churchill was not a good student, and in his younger years was ranked toward the bottom of his class.  As a boy, he talked with a lisp and also stuttered.  To fix this, he practiced for hours in front of a mirror until his pronunciations were correct.  Most people don't realize, as well, that Churchill was held as a prisoner of war during the Boer War in South Africa. From this predicament let's begin a timeline of accomplishments and defeats in the life of this incredible leader (borrowed from Jeff O'Leary, Footprints in Time):

1899 - While serving as army lieutenant, he is captured, escapes, and temporarily rejoins the army

1900 - elected to Parliament, Conservative Party

1908 - Marries Clementine Hozier

1911-1915 - Serves as First Lord of the Admiralty (similar to Secretary of the Navy in the U.S.)

1915 - Held responsible for the Dardanelles disaster at Gallipoli - 250,000 Allied casualties.  Forced to resign, offered a cabinet post without influence.  At age forty, rejoins the army in France and leads a battalion.  All media and both parties declare Churchill finished.

1917 - Writes proposal on building a tank with caterpillar tracks.  Tank called "Churchill's Folly" until it proves itself in battle and results in his appointment as minister of munitions.

1919 - Appointed to secretary of state for War and Air.

1921 - Rises to cabinet post of Colonial Secretary (similar to Secretary of State in U.S., overseeing Colonial Empire).

1923 - Runs again for Parliamnet as a Liberal.  Loses.

1924 - Runs as an Independent.  Loses.

1924-1929 - Appointed chancellor of the Exchequer (second to the Prime Minister)

1930 - Party out of power following the stock market crash and depression.

        - Churchill retains seat in Parliament

        - Loses nearly all his wealth in the Great Depression and begins writing

1930-1939 - Loses all influence in both parties as he advocates for a stronger military.  A vocal opponent of Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policy with Germany, his warnings fall on deaf ears.  Publishes four books during the decade, but the prevailing wisdom declares he is finished.

1939 - Chamberlain returns from Germany, waving treaty document and proclaiming, "Peace in our time."  Churchill responds, "You were given the choice between war and dishonor.  You have chosen both!"

1939 - Hitler breaks pact with Chamberlain and invades Poland

May 1940 - Chamberlain forced to resign as Prime Minister. 

Summer 1940 - Churchill apointed to first term as Prime Minister.

In 1939 the German Army had 98 divisions available for the invasion of Poland.  Although some were ill-equipped veteren reservists, they still had 1.5 million well-trained men available for action.  It also had 9 panzer divisions.  Each one had 328 tanks . . . When the German Army mounted its Western Offensive in 1940, it had had 2.5 million men and 2500 tanks . . . The German Army continued to grow and in June 1941 had 3 million men (including 200,000 from its allies) . . . available for Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union.  This included 142 infantry divisions, 17 panzer divisions and 4,000 tanks . . . Despite heavy losses in the Soviet Union and in France following the D-Day landings, the German Army still had 168 infantry divisions and 25 panzer divisions by January 1945.

In January 1942 the United States could field only 37 army divisions, one of which was fully trained, equipped, and battle ready.  From the fall of 1939 to the summer of 1940, tens of millions of Europeans lost their freedom to fascism with frightening speed.

Poland was attacked first and fell to Germany in twenty-seven days.

Germany attacked Finland in November 1939 and forced a peace agreement in March 1940.

Germany invaded Norway and Denmark in April 1940 and at the same time, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.  Belgium surrendered in May, Norway surrendered in June, and France surrendered after less than thrity days of combat, in spite of its ability to mobilize more than 5 million men.  Hitler entered Paris on June 23, 1940.

In July 1940, the Soviets seized Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and eastern Poland.  Italy occupied British territories in East Africa, while the United States continued to reamain officially neutral, and Germany launched its attack on the last remaining free nation in Europe - Great Britain.  It appeared that Europe and the rest of the world would soon have a German dictator replacing their freely elected governments.  Britain was about to face the darkest days of its history - alone.

Great Britain would stand alone, for a while, but it would not be without leadership.  Into this void stepped a man who had for years warned of the Nazi threat, and who had spent his entire life overcoming obstacles and preparing himself for his great destiny.  Churchill's resolve and determination put a face on courage that rallied a nation to its "finest hour."  As Churchill himself said, "It is a crime to despair.  We must learn to draw from misfortune the means of future strength."

But there is more to the story.

After World War II ended, another power vaccum developed.  The fall of Naziism in Europe brought a land and power-hunger Russia into Eastern Europe.  Communism was quick to bite off large chunks of territory surrendered by the Naziis.  Most of the world was so war-weary and thrilled about the prospect of peace that they were willing to interpret events in Eastern Europe with rose-colored glasses.  But not Churchill.  He vehemently opposed Communist advances, and he vocally warned of its threat.  But the world was ready for peace, and Churchill once again lost power.  Not long after standing firm in Britain's finest hour, the master leader fell from power and was again out of the government.  Only later, did the people realize, once again, that Churchill had been right, and once again made him Prime Minister.  But it was too late.  The Cold War had begun.

Churchill's life is so full of inspiration that any leader can find a lesson from which to gain strength and wisdom.  Time and again Churchill stood for what was right, and it often cost him dearly.  He overcame obstacles and opposition throughout his storied career.  He met foes head on.  He rose from the ashes after every defeat.  He made mistakes, learned from them, and lived to redeem himself.  Sometimes he had a following, sometimes he didn't. 

As O'Leary wrote, "Character is not born - character is formed.  Begin with yourself.  Perhaps your inclination is to cave in when the pressures grow and the obstacles seem impossible to overcome.  You must develop a strategy to reinforce your attitude and spirit at times like these.  Perhaps one way is to realize you aren't the first and only person to ever face insurmountable odds."  If this is true, than Churchill's example ought to suffice! 

An Unsung Heroine

Leaders lead because it is the right thing to do, because it is "in them," and because they were born for it.  Sometimes, it even gets recognized. 

For this reason, I particularly like it when historians dig up lost stories of selfless sacrifice by unsung leaders.  This excerpt from Alan Axelrod is interesting, partly because it is so little known, and partly because the hero of the story is a woman; a solid reminder that leadership does not have a preferred gender.

"Paul Revere was not the Revolution's only rider of note.  Sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington lived in the small Putnam County, New York, village named for her family, Ludington Mills, the daughter of a Patriot militia colonel.  On April 26, 1777, a messenger appeared at Ludington's door, warning of the approach of the British.  Colonel Ludington had little time to summon and organize his militiamen, who lived miles apart form one another across the countryside.  The messenger and his horse were spent, and the colonel had to remain at home, planning the regiment's action.  It fell to Sybil, a strong and capable rider, and her horse, Star, to make a thirty-mile circuit through the night and rain sounding the alarm: 'Muster at the Ludingtons!'"

Skillful, selfless, brave, spontaneous, and heroic: a simple, great historical example of leadership.  Remember, leaders may be needed at any time: one cannot predict when - best to be willing and prepared!

Some Fights are Worth Making

Author Alan Axelrod recently wrote an interesting sidebar about founding father John Adams:

"'For my part,' John Adams remarked, 'there was not a moment during the Revolution when I would not have given everything I ever possessed for a restoration of the state of things before the contest began.'  This is perhaps the most extraordinary confession of the entire war.  It tells us that debate, doubt, and even regret were active at the very core of the Revolution, that the idea of reconciliation was at least as powerful as the idea of breaking away, and that words and ideas would be as important in shaping the conflict as powder and lead.  If King George III and the conservatives in Parliament had been even a little more conciliatory, or if men like Thomas Paine had been a little less persuasive, it is likely that the Revolution would have been averted or settled amicably."

We read and talk all the time about the brave defiance to tyranny the colonies exhibited during the Revolution, we see how they risked their "lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor" to stand up for what was right, and we know that they fought a long and bloody war and ultimately survived to birth a free nation.  But it is easy to forget that they attempted, repeatedly, to offer the "olive branch" to King George III and Parliament, we forget that they also had a yearning, deep down in their breasts, for peace and harmony. 

Why was the natural inclination for peace and appeasement not heeded?  Why was the wish to avert armed conflict not satisfied?  In my view, it was because God had other plans.  Although it would have been nice to have averted war and found a way to maintain peace, it wouldn't have been right.  Although it would have been easier to keep the status quo and preserve tranquility, it wouldn't have been just.  And because these people were willing to sacrifice to stand firm for what was right, a great and mighty result was accomplished that has benefited hundreds of millions, living in a free society, ever since.

This brings us to, perhaps, one of the most difficult things for good-hearted, peace-loving people to understand:

Without justice, there can be no peace.

Who among us wouldn't desire peace over war?  Who among us wouldn't wish tranquility over violence?  Who among us wouldn't ignore some small offense for maintenance of the status quo?  Who among us, in the heat of battle and at the height of sacrifice, wouldn't, like John Adams before us, wish to turn back the clock and return to simpler, quieter times?

This reminds me of a scene from the movie Lord of the Rings, in which Frodo becomes weary and scared of his unsolicited burden of carrying the ring back to Mordor.  In speaking to Gandalph, Frodo basically says he wishes he'd never been given the ring to carry.  Gandalph's answer is beautiful, and to me, entirely correct.  Paraphrasing, Gandalph basically says, "That's how everyone feels when they find themselves in a position of great responsibility (where their peace and affluence have been wrecked by a fight for justice), the only question is, what are you going to do with the time you've been given?"

Why does Gandalph answer Frodo by talking about time?  Because how we use our time goes straight to the heart of the matter.  Frodo was longing for bygone days of peace and solitude.  Frodo had grown weary in well-doing.  But Gandalph reminded him that he still had a choice.  He could continue his fight for good, his pursuit of justice against the dark forces of evil, or he could return to his solitude and peace.  The choice was clear, Frodo could either serve his sense of justice, or he could serve his desire for peace.  But at that moment, he could not choose both.

Peace and irrelevance?

or

Struggle and justice?

And so simplifies the choice faced by every hero who ever lived. 

Who wouldn't want to avert conflict and loss?  Who wouldn't want peace and affluence? But the question remains: at what price?

Peace and affluence should never be chosen over justice.

So as John Adams and Gandalph both knew:

Some fights are worth making.

The Beast

The famous quote, "Tyranny, like Hell, is not easily conquered," comes from Thomas Paine's The Crisis, written during the American Revolutionary War.  The saying was galvanizing to those who sacrificed in the great cause of independence.  Later generations would take comfort in those same words, coming to realize what we have been discussing on this blog for a while now, namely that "Freedom isn't free."

In an Australian news article from summer of 2004, the 60th anniversary of D-Day during World War II, I found it interesting that Australian Prime Minister John Howard echoed the words written by Thomas Paine more than two centuries previously and a world away.  Here is a brief excerpt from that article (taken from the Sydney Morning Herald, June 7, 2004):   

Australians were willing to fight in wartime because they knew their freedom could not be delivered by others, the Prime Minister, John Howard, said in a speech commemorating the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings yesterday. In a clear parallel with current events in Iraq, Mr Howard said D-Day was significant "because it's a reminder that tyranny, like hell, is not easy to conquer". He said one of the Australian characteristics was that we always helped others in wartime. "We've always accepted a responsibility to do our bit and we don't think our freedom and liberty should be delivered by others. We think we have to play our part in delivering our own freedom ... and we've never profited from the sacrifice of others to deliver the sort of life we have today." The Prime Minister was in Normandy with 17 other leaders, including the US President, George Bush, the Queen and the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to remember, mourn and celebrate the sacrifices made on D-Day - the turning point of World War II in Europe. About 30,000 soldiers were deployed to protect the dignitaries. Advertisement Advertisement Mr Howard's comparison with today's events was echoed by Mr Bush, who said: "We ... remember the timeless lessons that D-Day teaches, that sacrifices must always be borne in the defence of freedom, that free nations working together can overcome danger ..." The French President, Jacques Chirac, said the occasion was "an opportunity to say to America and to Americans just how deeply grateful we are to them today".

All in all, a touching commentary about heroes and heroic principles that saved the world, at least for a time, from the fangs of tyranny.

One of my all-time favorite documentaries is called In the Face of Evil.  It was inspired and based upon the book entitled Reagan's War by Peter Schweizer, which I would also recommend.  Throughout the documentary, the narrator referrs to the forces of tyranny, whether they be Trotskyism, Bolshevism, Marxism, Communism, Naziism, or Radical Fundamentalist Islam and its terrorists, as "The Beast."  I thought this labeling very clever and effective.  After all, oppressive power in the hands of evil can be considered as nothing other than "beastly." Through a touching chronicle of the struggle of good versus evil, the documentary shows how, time and again, the forces of good banded together to fight back the oppressive forces of the Beast.

May those of us that treasure freedom always be willing to fight the Beast in its every form; whenever it presents itself at our towers, our Marine barracks, our airports, our bus stations, our subways, or wherever it may be found.  The Beast manifests itself as oppressive governments, terrorist theocracies, and corrupt corporations - but the root of the Beast is always the same: power lust, greed, pride, envy, and hate.  And the Beast always feasts upon the same thing - weakness, ignorance, and indifference.  Therefore, the best way to constantly stand in the way of the Beast is to be strong, informed, and involved. 

As Edmund Burke said:  "The only thing necessary for Evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing."