Από την Κρήτη εθελοντής στον Αμερικανικό Στρατό., item 48

• November 1, 2018 07:39:54 Anastasia Ioannou

  men who surround you. The army in certain

  respects is not the least bit different from the civil

  life which you recently left. Here the bonds, if any­-

  thing, are tighter, the feeling of comradeship keener,

  and the man with ability recognized more promptly

  by his fellows. Here promises are to be lived up to.

  No man is taken on faith. He must prove his worth.

  The army is the truest Democracy of the world.

  Every man has an equal chance with his fellows.

  His motto is “Service” and he must live up to it

  eternally. Democracies fail because the word

  “Service” is forgotten; likewise, armies fail if this

  word becomes rusty.

     If you have ever played football you will recall

  how the coach insisted upon one thing—teamwork.

  His entire teaching began and ended with this. I

  remember that the failure to comprehend this lost

  us our first important game of the season. We tried,

  each in his individual fashion, to do our best, but

  there was no spirit of the whole, no morale. We did

  not understand what teamwork meant. But we soon

  found out. And when we did we had one of the

  most successful seasons in the history of the school.

     In the army, a place where individual worth is

  something of vast importance, this teamwork must

  be developed to the last point. Each element of the

  vast organization must be taught to co-operate with

  the others and each soldier taught to work with his

  fellow soldier in a friendly, helpful manner.

     The individual in his own way has certain duties

  that are important and must be performed. He is

  held responsible for them. He is expected to be

  intelligent in the way he handles his work and his

  actions are closely observed. He must subordinate

  himself to the cause for which he is fighting and this

  subordination must be complete and final. Even

  the commanding general is subject to the strict in-­

  terpretation of certain laws. He is held by the

  people of his country in strict accountability, and

  his failure is appaling. There is no doubt but what

  
  

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