I would like if I could to share with you three models of military leadership with which I am familiar. The first is the strategic thinker, General Wesley Clark, Supreme Allied Commander of the NATO forces in Europe. And he never lacked the courage to fight for them. He took on and beat racial and sexual discrimination in the American military. His compassion for the ordinary enlisted men and women seems all the more poignant when considered against the backdrop of his son, Elmo, jr., who died of cancer caused by the spraying of agent orange, which he himself ordered during the Vietnam war.
Leadership comes at all levels of the military.
My third and final example is the former gunny seargent at my post. He knew perfectly how to balance the tightrope between familiarity and respect. The men serving under him would have done anything for him, but they also could have fun with him. He was both friend and father to them. Like these three men, I hope that you will dare to think with vision and that you will never lack the courage to show compassion.