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Two Veterans, Two Paths: A Contrast in Leadership
Two Veterans are in the news a lot these day. One is Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of War (emit growl, make mean face). The other is Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado’s 6th Congressional District. We are just starting to see him on the
national stage, and I hope we’ll see much more of this honorable, decorated veteran.
Hegseth is the MAGA darling, a former Fox weekend newscaster, his hair oozing product, his shirt collar sporting a pretty-boy look. Substance takes a back seat.
Crow is a different sort. His suits are off the rack. His tie is drab and often ill knotted. He has a four-day growth that could be fashion or could be that he forgot to shave. He is quiet spoken but tenacious. (See video.)
Both were in the Army. Both served as platoon leaders. I would bet a case of C rations that Hegseth’s troops loathed him, and Crow’s boys would have followed him to hell and back.
A platoon of infantry-kids is a unique organism (yes, they are kids; don’t think Sgt. Rock, think Beetle Bailey). They talk about home, girls, beer, girls, beer, girls, sports, girls, and their platoon leader. They may not be wise yet individually, but as a collective organism—a platoon—they have a finely tuned sense of bullshit. And righteous leadership. They know real leadership when they see it.
Hegseth weeps bullshit. He stutter-steps around questions, parsing each word, looking for a trick, figuring out where he can insert his party line in his answer. He sports multiple tats, including a Jerusalem Cross on his chest and the words Deus vult on what passes for a bicep, a medieval Christian war cry translated as “God wills it.”
By contrast, Crow looks you in the eye and answers the damn question. Straight forward. No dance. No performance. He wore jump wings on his chest and a Ranger Tab on his shoulder. That is all he needed.
Recently, Representative Crow addressed congress on his perception of where the country is going. It was a brilliant, straight-forward speech. He concluded by telling of the Airborne tradition of a unit leader always jumping before his men, in true Infantry “Follow Me!” tradition. His last words were, “I am ready to jump.”
Pete Hegseth is not. For one, he is a “Leg” – a pejorative Airborne troops use in reference to non-Airborne troops. For two, the wind blast would mess up his hair.
This Old Vet
By Lionel Atwill
Lionel Atwill served as a Recon Platoon Leader with the First Division in Vietnam
in 1968. He was Ranger, Airborne, and Special Forces qualified. He was
awarded two Bronze Stars for Valor.
