When James Mattis Gave Away His Dinner
A story of character.
5:30 AM, Dec 31, 2016 | By Frances Tilney Burke
Character is often revealed in seemingly small gestures. Amid all the speculation about how retired Marine general James Mattis will manage to lead the behemoth called the Department of Defense, one personal experience I had a decade ago as a young staffer in the office of the Secretary of Defense sticks in my mind as a demonstration of Mattis's natural leadership ability. It was also an act of pure kindness I have never forgotten.
After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, as large numbers of wounded warriors started to come home to the United States to recuperate at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, my boss, Paul Wolfowitz, then deputy secretary of Defense, wanted the wounded service members and their families to know how much their sacrifices were appreciated. In addition to regular visits to Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Hospital, he frequently attended "Friday night dinners" hosted by two Vietnam veterans at a local restaurant they owned. There, he met some of the wounded service members and their families, particularly to learn about the challenges they faced trying to deal with a "nineteenth century bureaucracy" so unlike the twenty-first century medical care they were getting from some gifted military doctors. Accompanied by his close friend and senior military assistant, Brigadier General Frank Helmick, the pair were often able to assist the wounded warriors in overcoming an obstinate bureaucracy.
more
http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/when-james-mattis-gave-away-his-dinner/article/2006091
