It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. …Teddy Roosevelt When I was a boy, I heard a…
2021 February
In the last 100 years, no catastrophic event was as significant as World War II. In just 6 years, over 70 million men, women and children were killed around the world. Death was common, violent and even obligatory. However, there were times even then when mercy was the right answer. In the bloodiest of times, mercy moments happen, though if battles were not fought with resolve, the loss would be tragic. Eli Ponich and Akira Ishibashi were on opposite sides of the battle in Okinawa in 1945. Ponich was a 715th American Amphibious Infantry Battalion sergeant; Ishibashi a sniper in the Japanese Imperial Army. The 715th landed three amphibious vehicles at Nakagusuku Bay, left their weapons behind, and began treating wounded natives in a cave as Ishibashi watched undetected from a dark hole in the same cave. When the Americans left the cave, carrying the most injured to their craft…
The term “before & after” is often used to describe a significant event in someone’s life; that significant moment that distinguishes their past from their future. Zero Hour (a military term) has similar meanings. Familiar dictionaries however, all offer a couple alternative meanings; ONE: A crucial or decisive moment. Or TWO: The scheduled time for the start of an operation or action, especially a significant tactical operation. The crucial moment definition often refers to something we have very little expectation or control of. The start of operations definition refers to an intentional action for a desired outcome. We will have (or have had) crucial moment Zero Hours. Whether financial, relational, occupational or other – stuff happens. It could be great (winning the lottery) or awful. Zero Hours aren’t all fun. There well may be tears, blood and pieces on the ground. When that awful Zero Hour hits, you may never…