In the Company of Soldiers

Alexander The Great, a student of Aristotle, was one of the most successful military commanders in history, and is presumed undefeated in battle. By the time of his death in 323 BC at age 33, he had conquered most of the world known to the ancient Greeks. In 327 BC this poem was dedicated on a stele, a marble funerary monument, outside of Kabul, Afghanistan to the memory of the 6,900 soldiers of his command, who had died in his Afghan campaign. The poet was known only as Stephanos, a sergeant in his army, who had won his garland for poetry in Athens.

In the company of soldiers
I have no need to explain myself
In the company of soldiers
everybody understands.
In the company of soldiers,
I don't have to pretend to be the person I'm not
Or strike that pose, however well-intended, that is expected
by those who have not known me under arms.
In the company of soldiers all my crimes are forgiven
I am safe
I am known
I am home
In the company of soldiers.

The philosopher, George Santayana, is most remembered for something he wrote in A Life of Reason, published in 1905, "Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

You can tell from the simple but eloquent poem below, which was written 275 years before Santayana's memorable phrase was published, that we are still repeating history.

The poem written by a religious poet named Francis Quarles in England in around 1630, captures in an economical use of words, an issue Servicemen then and thereafter have had to face regularly. In Vietnam it seemed like a very personal affront to those of us, who had served honorably, then returned home to be treated less than honorably...

"God and soldiers we like adore
In times of trouble not before
When trouble is gone and all things righted
God is forgotten and the soldier slighted."

Brothers... Forever

William Shakespeare wrote the play Henry V about 200 years after the Battle of Agincourt, which was fought in 1415. In the play, King Henry delivered the St. Crispin Day Speech on the morning of the critical battle, in which his units were far from "home and reinforcements," and dramatically "outnumbered and outgunned." While the tactical situation was correct, the play and Henry's speech were fiction. Yet they capture the finest dramatic interpretation of what leadership and camaraderie meant to men in the Middle Ages and to those who have served in harm's way ever since. It is particularly compelling to men who have served in combat. While history does not record this speech, King Henry must have made one, as it does record that his men "won the day." This is a compelling excerpt from Henry V below:

This day is call'd the feast of Crispin;
He that outlives this day and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispin...
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day...
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers:
For he today that shed his blood with me Shall be my brother
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon St. Crispin's day...

The late Stephen Ambrose wrote a book about the men of Easy Company, 1/506th, 101st Airborne. His book followed the unit from training in Georgia to England, to their parachute jump and subsequent combat in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, to the capture of Hitler's hideaway in the Bavarian Alps, Berchtesgaden. Ambrose chose Shakespeare's "Band of Brothers," reference as the title to his book. The book was popularized by the exceptional HBO series, Band of Brothers, created by Tom Hanks and Stephen Spielberg, based on Ambrose's story of the men of Easy Company. You may recall the book and film focused on 1st Lt. Richard "Dick" Winters, who took over Easy Company as CO at a critical moment on D-Day, rising to battalion commander of 1/506th in the fight across Europe. Major Richard Winters was inducted into the Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame, Class of 2005.

On behalf of the men of 1/501, I nominated Major Valentine Zapert to the OCS Hall of Fame for his actions as Recon Platoon Leader 1/501, which he commanded before assuming duties as Alpha Company CO. Val was inducted into the OCS Hall of Fame on April 18, 2008, in the Class of 2008, consisting of 4 General Officers, 25 Colonels, 3 Lt.Col., 2 Majors, 1 CPT. & 1 LT. An Alpha Company contingent, representing each platoon, attended the ceremony at Ft. Benning, GA. Induction to the Hall Of Fame is the highest honor bestowed by the Officer Candidate School on its graduates. We salute Val as he joins Lt. Thomas Wigle, Col. Robert Nett, Senator Robert Dole, Gen. Tommy Franks, Maj. Richard Winters, and hundreds of American heroes in this place of honor.