Feb
The Beginning of Bravery
Yesterday I read a book titled Guadalcanal Diary. I had read it once before, when I was still in grammar school. The book is considered an American classic. To this day, it is required reading for Marine Corps officers. The book is an eyewitness account of the first weeks of the Battle of Guadalcanal.
Guadalcanal Diary tells of the Marines, sailors and pilots during those first weeks. Woven in those pages are stories of various ordeals, from waiting out an enemy bomb run to hearing a sniper’s bullet crack inches from one’s head. It also talks of bravery and enthusiasm, fear and the mad dash for a foxhole. Mostly, the story is one of men doing the needful things in the face of a determined enemy. I would suggest that anyone who wants to know Tyr read this book. There are many first-hand accounts of war, and this is one of the best of them.
One salient thought comes through. It is this: the first part of bravery is showing up. Whatever else happens, the fact is that you came and agreed to participate. Whether you get sent into a hot zone or a cool rear echelon is up to the “powers that be.” The point is that you came in the first place. That is the beginning of bravery.
The way to be a warrior is to spend time in the military. You do not have to be a warrior to be brave. Courage has as many forms as there are fears. Courage is doing the needful thing in spite of your fear. We can see it in wartime because it is so conspicuous in combat. It is harder to see in non-military situations because they are not as loud.
There are times when it takes more courage to go outside the door at home than it is to get into a gunfight. It all begins by showing up. If you do not go out the door, there is no courage. Depending on your avocation, courage might begin with a ride in a fire truck, jumping into an ambulance, facing down a delinquent dad in court, or making that tough decision in order to help your family squeeze through the tight economy. For children with dysfunctional families, courage can be the only thing that enables them to go home after school. There are people who brave fearsome things every day and do not even realize that what they are doing is courageous.
The beginning of bravery is showing up.
