As you know, Veterans Day is drawing near. While thinking about the day and what it represents, I came across a quote that really struck me:
“War is for the participants a test of character:
it makes bad men worse,and good men better.”
– Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
Some of the best people I know are veterans. I’m sure the same is true for you. Most of the men and women who serve our country seem to come home wearing more than medals; they proudly display the principles of honor, loyalty, commitment, and sacrifice for all to see. Our veterans develop these attributes while defending our country, but they don’t leave them behind when they return from the battlefield.
That is why so many of our most prominent leaders and public servants are veterans. I think Chamberlain’s words are true: service in the military takes good men and women and makes them even better. It transforms them into heroes.
Unbelievable Choices One Veteran Makes.
Chamberlain would know. Born on September 8, 1828 in Brewer, Maine, Chamberlain planned for a life in academics. Shortly after his marriage, he became an instructor at Bowdoin College. His subjects? Religion and rhetoric. He lived quietly for six years,—reading, teaching, and learning languages, including Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, French, and German. For all intents and purposes, his would be a scholarly life based more on study than service.
Then the Civil War broke out.
Chamberlain’s Shocking Decision
For a year, Chamberlain watched as the young men around him left home to fight. No one expected Chamberlain to join them. But the thirty-year old professor could not stand the thought of remaining safe at home while others went off to die. Knowing the College did not want him to go; he asked for and received a two-year sabbatical to study abroad. The moment it was granted, he proceeded not to Europe, but to enlist. Some people expressed doubts about his decision. Chamberlain was “no fighter” according to one detractor, while a second went even further: Chamberlain was “nothing at all.”1
But war makes good men better, as Chamberlain was about to prove.
Life Changing Events
After a year of fighting savage battles and freezing during cold winter nights, Chamberlain was promoted to the rank of colonel. This meant he was now in command of his own regiment, the 20th Maine. The promotion would change his life forever.
July 2, 1863. The Battle of Gettysburg was in its second day. Chamberlain was tasked with holding the extreme left of the Union army on a small, rocky hill called Little Round Top. He was told explicitly that he could not retreat, for if he did, the entire Union line would give way and the battle would be lost. After repulsing wave upon wave of Confederate attacks, and with little ammunition left, Chamberlain realized his regiment was at its breaking point. But since he could not retreat, what else could he do? The only recourse was to charge. As Chamberlain later said, “I saw no way to hold the position but to make a counter-charge with the bayonet, and to place myself at the head of it.”1
The regiment charged, driving back the Confederate advance for good. For his role in saving the army, and possibly the entire war, Chamberlain received the Medal of Honor.
The Dying Hero Who Rose Again
His heroism didn’t end there. Chamberlain spent the next two years sacrificing career and body for his country. He endured bouts of malaria and dysentery. And in 1864, shortly after another promotion, Chamberlain was shot through the hip while directing his men into battle. The bullet went through both hips, piercing his bladder and scything through several arteries. To keep himself from falling, he thrust his sword into the ground and leaned on it as if it were a cane. Only after his men had passed did he permit himself to collapse, lapsing into unconsciousness due to blood loss. The wound was supposed to be fatal, and doctors did not expect him to live. General Ulysses S. Grant awarded him a third promotion to the rank of brigadier general, and his obituary was published in the newspapers.
Chamberlain lived, and continued to serve.
A Hero Who Shows Honor
At wars end, Chamberlain was chosen to receive the surrender of the Confederate army. Prior to this, he had shown bravery, commitment, and sacrifice. Now he showed honor. As their beaten foes passed by, Chamberlain ordered his troops to salute their fellow countrymen. The stunned Confederate soldiers saluted in turn. Some people did not appreciate this show of respect, but it likely did much to mend the differences between the two armies.
The war was over, but like so many veterans, Chamberlain returned home still wearing the badges of honor, commitment, and courage he had earned. He became one of Maine’s leading citizens, elected to four straight terms as Governor before serving as president of Bowdoin College. Even retirement didn’t diminish his willingness to serve. In 1880, a dispute over the election of a new governor turned violent. Mobs formed. As commander of the local militia, Chamberlain arrived to keep the peace. Both sides accused him of collaborating with the other, and even offered bribes, but Chamberlain was unmoved. When a mob of men arrived at the capitol to kill him, he opened his shirt and said,
“Men, you wish to kill me, I hear. Killing is no new thing to me. It is for me to see that the laws of this state are put into effect, without fraud, without force, but with calm thought and sincere purpose. I am here for that, and I shall do it. If anybody wants to kill me for it, here I am. Let him kill!”1
No one fired a shot.
The Wound That Killed
Chamberlain’s wounds never really healed, and in 1914, at the age of eighty-five, the old soldier finally succumbed. Some have suggested he was the last Civil War veteran to die from wounds received during the war.
Had Chamberlain stayed home in 1862, history would likely have passed him by, unremembered and unmarked. But because he decided to serve, he developed the traits so many veterans have displayed both before and after him. He was a good man made better.
Good Men and Women Made Better
So many veterans alive today have served our country both in times of war and in times of peace. They wear badges and medals beyond those of gold and silver—badges that represent the most notable qualities humankind can achieve. Honor and courage. Commitment and sacrifice.
This Veterans Day, I’m so grateful for those men and women, past and present, who decided to serve. I’m grateful for who they are, what they did, and what they continue to do, both in and out of uniform.
I’m thankful for our veterans.
On behalf of all of us here at Wealth Advisors, have a happy Veterans Day! Please remember to give thought to the men and women who serve our country.
