How not to honor your veterans

Much has been made of Trump’s recent Veterans Day, uh, “speech.” You know, the one where he said, “In honor of our great veterans on Veterans Day, we pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, that lie and steal and cheat on elections and will do anything possible, they will do anything possible, legally or illegally, to destroy America and to destroy the American dream.”

It is safe to say that decades from now, this will not have replaced the Gettysburg Address as a memorization task for our country’s students.

Of course, it is not at all surprising that Trump wants to “root out” American citizens who do not share his own vision of America (whatever that may be). It probably should be surprising that he said this on a day dedicated to honoring the men and women who have pledged to defend the Constitution, the document that allows us to have our own opinions, be they leftists, Marxist, or in Trump’s case, authoritarian.

But it is not surprising because Trump is the guy who said to General John Kelly — while visiting the grave of Kelly’s son on Memorial Day in Arlington Cemetery — “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”

Trump was right: He doesn’t get it.

The Military Times conducted a poll going into the 2020 Presidential election that showed that only 37% of active-duty service members were voting for Trump. Trump not only lost the military vote to Biden (who collected 42%), Trump failed to attract the full support of his own party, which accounted for 40% of the people polled. Imagine how bad a sitting Commander in Chief has to be for his own party not to fully support him.

I don’t know for a fact why so few military voters did not vote for Trump, but I have a theory. Here are some things I learned about leadership over the years. Some were taught to me in the military, some I learned the hard way.

The first, and perhaps most important: Praise in public, reprimand in private. Never miss the opportunity to publicly notice someone for doing something well. Never do them the irreparable shame of discipling them before their peers, seniors, and juniors just so you can make a point about what kind of person you are.

Give credit, take responsibility. No matter how good a leader you think you are, your successes are only possible because the people around you made them possible. No matter how indirectly you oversaw a failure, publicly accept that as the leader, it was your failure. This not only demonstrates responsibility, it takes pressure off your subordinates.

Listen to those assigned to you, and especially those with more experience. As a junior Navy officer, I had a chief that worked for me who had a son who had been in the Navy longer than I had. This chief was closing in on 30 years of service. It would have been foolish for me to think I could not learn most of everything from someone with that much experience, even if he had to call me “sir” while teaching it to me.

Never ask someone to do something you would not do yourself. You may not know how to do everything, but would you be willing to do it if you could?

Poke fun at your peers, chuckle mildly at your seniors, laugh at yourself, but never make a joke at the expense of those you are supposed to lead. Never punch down.

You cannot lead from the rear. You must be the example.

Be decisive, but not at the expense of being right. When you missed that second part, be open to solutions.

Create opportunities for others to lead. Leaders are not born, they have to make themselves.

Donald Trump has never exhibited any of these qualities. Not a single one.

After all, “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”

Nobody questions Trump’s inability to understand the importance of selflessness, service, or what drives some to such sacrifices. How we allowed him to be the Commander in Chief of such people once, that is a question worth asking.

Will Wood is a small business owner, veteran, and half-decent runner. He lives, works, and writes in West Chester.