Από την Κρήτη εθελοντής στον Αμερικανικό Στρατό., item 43

• November 1, 2018 06:48:48 Anastasia Ioannou

  have been adopted centuries ago. But war alter

  war has shown us that the successful army is the

  one whose soldiers know how to obey. They know

  this word "obey” when they are hungry and tired

  and almost exhausted. They are ready to leap to

  their feet in the middle of the night after a hard

  day’s work; they are prepared to do double duty

  and not to grumble at things which go wrong; they

  are proud of the unit to which they are attached;

  they feel that their officers have their interests at

  heart and will not let them want when there is no

  necessity for it. It is this sort of spirit that is the

  necessary adjustment to obedience. It is called the

  morale of an army, and Napoleon considered it

  about seventy-five per cent in importance. When an

  army has been trained and through tireless drilling

  has lost its mob-like appearance, thus becoming a

  working possibility, the next thing of importance is

  to see that the proper spirit governs the actions of

  the men. If this spirit is lacking something is the

  matter.

  There is no reason why you shouldn’t begin right

  now to inculcate this spirit of unselfishness in your­-

  self as well as your fellows. Let us assume that

  day after day, week after week, month after month,

  you arc driven through the most rigorous tasks that

  call forth the last ounce of your patience—you have

  been grumpling at the enormous amount of it all—

  you are associated with a crowd of men who are

  determined not to become soldiers in the complete

  meaning of the word—you are not being taught in-

  ­telligently.

  All these things being true, what then? Is this

  sort of business getting you anywhere? Is it help-

  ­ing you any to sit around and discuss your troubles

  with a lot of men who will never achieve anything,

  either in the army or out of it? Aren't you wasting

  the time of your superiors and your Government

  by loafing when you should be struggling with the

  many problems that face you? Your instructor may

  
  

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