This Colonel Is My New Favorite Speaker

LTC White, an infantry battalion commander, gives a great speech to a graduating class of infantrymen, and video of it is excerpted here. There are some classic "army man" lines in it:

"For my money, there are two kinds of men that walk the earth: men of action, and all others."

"To be sitting in the safety of your home, several years into a war, subject to the 24/7 media coverage of that same war and its brutality, and then to go sign up for the Army Infantry, says a lot about a man's character. To stick it out when so many in our society look daily for a reason to quit says a great deal about a man's heart, the support he gets from his family, and his ability to see a larger picture."

"Men, don't ever think for one minute that the kids running around on some university campus, protesting or breaking things, whining about this, that, or the other, have anything on you."

"Your head will not be filled with the empty theory of those who, in actuality, know very little, because they lack the intestinal fortitude to commit to anything that requires risk. I'm speaking of the snide, arrogant sort, who spend the day blaming America for every wrong in the world before going home to sleep at night under that blanket of freedom provided by better men--better men just like you."

"Don't let the pessimistic television talking heads, the highbrow newspaper writers, Hollywood idiots...(I can't understand what he says here)...Blame America First crowd get you down. I'm speaking here of the latte-biscotti crowd. They are simple background shadow men, and they will always exist on the periphery of any endeavor that requires selfless service or loyalty. They are not worthy of your concern. And truth be told, in the pit of their fickle, cowardly hearts, they wish they could be just like you. The intestinal fortitude that is a part of your fabric is something that they covet but will never know."

"I, for one, will never, ever apologize for being an American, and don't you ever feel that you have to."

"We're number 1, don't ever apologize for it, just be damn proud of it."

He gives plenty of reasons why we're number one, but if you believe that you already know what they are and if you don't believe it, no laundry list will convince you.

I would work for this man. I like the way he thinks.