t away
turned on his pallet to regard a Union private who had just lost an
arm, and said to him, "For what reason did you invade us and make all
this trouble?" The boy replied simply: "For the old flag." That may
sound like sentiment from a distant past. But turn to the story of
Major Devereux and the Marine defense of Wake Island. He wrote that
the "music" had always gone sour, and had invariably broken down when
he tried to play "The Colors." But on the morning of Pearl Harbor,
when the flag was raised, the garrison already knew that the war was
on. And for some reason which no man could account for, the bugler
rose to the occasion, and for the first time, every note came straight
and true. Devereux said that every throat tightened and every head
went higher. Yet Devereux was a remarkably unmelodramatic fighting
man.

But to get back to those simpler virtues which provide a firm
foundation for patriotism and may become the fount of courage, at
least these few things would have to be put among the fundamentals:

1. A man has honor if he holds himself to a course of conduct,
because of a conviction that it is in the general interest, even
though he is well aware that it may lead to inconvenience,
personal loss, humiliation or grave physical risk.

2. He has veracity if, having studied a question to the limit of
his ability, he says and believes what he thinks to be true, even
though it would be the path of least resistance to deceive others
and himself.

3. He has justice if he acknowledges the interests of all
concerned in any particular transaction rather than serving his
own apparent interest.

4. He has graciousness if he acts and speaks forthrightly, agrees
warmly, disagrees fairly and respectfully, participates
enthusiastically, refrains from harboring grudges, takes his
reverses in stride, and does not complain or ask for help in the
face of trifling calamities.

5. He has integrity if his interest in the good of the service is
at all times greater than his personal pride, and when he holds
himself to the same line of duty when unobserved as he would
follow if all of his superiors were present.

The list could be longer, but for the moment, we can let it go at
that. These standards are not counsels of perfection; thousands of
officers have adhered to them. But it should be said as well that if
all leaders at the lower levels