Integrity Matters…

By The Book

Phillip Jennings is an investment banker and entrepreneur, former Marine Corps Captain who flew missions  in Vietnam and, after leaving the Marine Corps, flew for Air America in Laos. He won the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society short fiction award in 1998. He has a degree in business administration and is the CEO of Mayfair Capital Partners.  He is the author of two novels and one non-fiction book.

He authored the following article which appeared in the May 26, 2016 edition of USA Today.  It is short and should be required reading for everyone.

Secretary without honor

When I hear people say Clinton emails don’t matter, I remember a young Marine captain who owned up to his career-ruining mistake.

Apologists for Hillary Clinton’s alleged criminal mishandling of classified documents say that it doesn’t matter, that she really did nothing wrong, or nothing significant. But the real question is not so much what she did as how she has responded to being found out.

Once during the mid-1960s when I was on active duty in the Marine Corps, I was the air liaison officer for a battalion of Marines aboard 11 ships in the Mediterranean. As the air officer and a senior captain, I had a rotating responsibility for the nuclear code book, kept in the safe in the operations room of the lead amphibious squadron command ship. I shared that duty with another captain, a squared away young man, liked by all he commanded and the son of a very high-ranking Marine.

On the day our ships were leaving the Mediterranean, we met the new amphibious squadron near Gibraltar and made preparations to transfer security codes and other sensitive material to the incoming Marine battalion. The young captain was on duty and went to the operations office to pick up the code book. He was alone in the office. He removed the code book and placed it on the desk while closing the safe. In a rushed moment, he stepped across the passageway to retrieve something he needed from his quarters. Seconds later, he stepped back into the operations office and found the operations sergeant having just entered, looking down at the code book.

Against all regulations, the code book had been out of the safe and unattended. It mattered not that it was unattended for only seconds, that the ship was 5 miles at sea, or that it was certain no one unauthorized had seen the code. The captain could have explained this to the operations sergeant. He could have told the sergeant that he “would take care of it.” He could have hinted that his high-ranking dad could smooth it over.

But the Marine Corps’ values are honor, courage and commitment. Honor is the bedrock of our character. The young captain could not ask the sergeant to betray his duty to report the infraction, no matter how small. Instead, the captain simply said, “Let’s go see the colonel.”

That captain had wanted to be a Marine officer all of his life. It was the only career he ever wanted. When he reported the incident to the colonel, he knew he was jeopardizing his life’s dream. But he did it.

The results went by the book. The amphibious squadron stood down. Military couriers flew in from NATO. The codes were changed all over Europe. The battalion was a day late in leaving the Mediterranean. The captain, Leonard F. Chapman III, received a letter of reprimand, damaging his career. He stayed in the corps and died in a tragic accident aboard another ship.

I saw some heroic acts in combat in Vietnam, things that made me proud to be an American and a Marine. But that young captain stood for what makes our corps and our country great.

Clinton is the antithesis of that young captain, someone with no honor, little courage and commitment only to her endless ambition. This has nothing to do with gender, party affiliation, ideology or policy. It is a question of character — not just hers, but ours. Electing Clinton would mean abandoning holding people accountable for grievous errors of integrity and responsibility. What we already know about her security infractions should disqualify her for any government position that deals in information critical to mission success, domestic or foreign. But beyond that, her responses to being found out — dismissing its importance, claiming ignorance, blaming others — indict her beyond anything the investigation can reveal. Those elements reveal her character. And the saddest thing is that so many in America seem not to care.

And I cannot understand why people are letting this slide… NONE of the veterans I know are, that’s for sure…

h/t JP

Comments

Integrity Matters… — 15 Comments

  1. The lack of concern is why I think the America I grew up in, and gave 4 years of my life to, is gone. Without a bang, or even a whimper…

  2. About 15 months ago the most hardcore (P)regressive I know said, “I never thought these words would pass my lips. I wish we had a better candidate”.

    Shillary is the only horse they have in the race. So few of them have ever put their personal ass on the line for anything they can’t comprehend where we are coming from.

    This is in part the legacy of LBJ/JFK and Vietnam. The generation that were anti-war protestors in the 60’s are the ones who educated the current crop of (P)regressives IMO.

  3. What Well Seasoned Fool said…
    “This is in part the legacy of LBJ/JFK and Vietnam. The generation that were anti-war protestors in the 60’s are the ones who educated the current crop of (P)regressives IMO.

    THIS is the crux of the matter. The anti-establishment folks are now the establishment. Foxes in the hen house, as it were.
    Fabian socialism at it’s best.

    PS – I’m copying this post and reposting it. Hopefully, someone, somewhere will grok honor, eventually…

    gfa

  4. All- Thanks and I’m glad I’m not the only one that feels this way…

    Posted from my iPhone.

  5. Fargo +1

    It’s not just the classified info. There’s also the four dead Americans in Benghazi, and the lies and coverup afterwards.

    As far as the left is concerned, “integrity” is just a word in the dictionary between “indifferent” and “intolerant.”

  6. Integrity DOES indeed matter, at least to those of us that have some. To those who have none, nothing matters except for doing whatever they want to ‘accomplish’ their goals, regardless of what it costs anyone else.

    OTB MCPO sends

  7. No, you’re not the only one. It just gets so dang hard to keep being a good example when you are surrounded by what should be horrible warnings but nothing visible happens to them. The karma bus feels long overdue, but I also know a lot of other people are going to get hurt when it rolls through.

  8. It’s really not even about “… so many in America not seeming to care.” It is about the Justice system being weak and pathetic in not being able to stop the Clinton Crime Syndicate dead in it’s tracks. There is nothing magical about these disgusting people. They are criminals of the first order and should be prosecuted as such. Comey is a disgrace having said that “no prosecutor would touch the case.” This is only the latest is a series of offenses this couple has perpetuated on the country. I was recently reminded about BJ and his handling of the shooting down of TWA Flight 800 and Mogadishu pull-out after ordering warlord Aidid’s capture. What a couple of ass-holes.

  9. The Soap Box is useless against the electronic wall of the media.
    The Ballot Box is useless. See McAwful’s reinstating 200,000 felons to the voter rolls.
    The Jury Box only works when there are actual trials.
    That leaves us only one choice.
    Hard times a’coming.

  10. So few people have a clue about handling sensitive, classified, top secret information that they fall for the lies.