In short, the 7 core army values listed below are what been a soldier is about:
Duty- fulfill your obligations. Doing your duty means more than carrying out you're assigned test, duty means being able to accomplish task as part of a team.
Respect- treat People as they should be treated in the soldier’s code, we pledge to treat others with dignity and respect while expecting others to do the same.
Selfless service- put the welfare of the nation the army and your subordinates before your own. Selfless service is larger than just one person it is serving your country, because you are doing your duty loyally without of recognition or gain.
Honor- live up to army values integrity do what's right legally and morally.
Integrity- do what is right, legally and moral. It requires that you do and says nothing that deceives others.
Personal courage- face fear, danger or adversity (physical or moral) personal courage has long been associated with our army .
During my most recent participation in the blind rehabilitation program at Hinds VA hospital in Chicago, IL, I was able to make many new friends. Among those friends was a particular young Soldier name Brian , a young blood in a very particular health situation. His eyes where developing a serious, very rare, and genetical optical degenerating disorder that at just 21 years old, was already to far on its degenerative process for him to keep hiding those symptoms that was bothering and frightening him so much. He was realizing his vision was going away …
Thank God that he was a soldier in the U.S. Army when this happened, because for that reason he was getting rehabilitation at the Hinds VA Blind Rehab center, the same time I was also getting trained.
We made a great connection because we speak the same language. He was from Puerto Rico, so we stuck together. In my own personal experience, I had already lived in this situation for the last 14 years.
My personal road to recovery has not been an easy one… too many serious injuries, without even considering the blindness. Like many others, I had to endure and have personal courage under fire, even more so now during this long agonizing recovery process.
I was set to show my brother in arms how its been for me during this long 15 years of blindness so he could have an idea on how things may be for him once he loses more of his vision. Not that he was shy at all, he asked questions and was amazed at how it is possible to have a life after losing your sight. He is just 21, the same age of my oldest daughter, and everybody in the program noticed how young he was.
We had all types of ages at that particular program, but mostly soldiers from another war time era like Vietnam, the second World War, and Korea. There weren’t many from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan, only like four of us, but ages ranged from 30 all the way up to a 92 year-old World War II veteran that was taking the training with us.
My young friend was recruited by the U.S. Army right after finishing high school because he was so clear on his intentions of serving his country. At that time there where no signals of his degenerative congenital liber disease, that was now taking a big toll out of his eyes.
About to finish the first month of training, we were already inseparable! Because he has more vision than I do, we complemented and supported one another. One day, we decided we would like to venture around inside the hospital to try the main cafeteria for lunch. After a long walk through the Hinds VA Chicago hospital, we reached the main cafeteria, a completely unknown territory for us since we have our own place to eat and food prepared where we were staying. He was actually guiding me through the big cafeteria place, and we were completely lost. Both of us stumbled from one cashier to another until we hit a potato chip stand almost to the floor… enough to see for a retired First Sergeant with more than 20 years of service that is now working within the VA system as the maintenance manager for the entire hospital. We are going to call him Benjie, short for Benjamin.
“Hello, what are you looking for and how can I help?” B
By that time, we already noticed a strong Latin Puerto Rican accent, and we thought Hmmm, this is one of our own! Little did we know about his military background that he would soon share with us. We told him we were looking for something to eat but we did not know what was available. He helped to guide us through the whole menu and different stations until we decided on a wrap. He virtually brought us to the right line. On the walk, we were already communicating in our own language and knew he was a retired veteran.
“Ok, we are good now, thank you” I explained as I was trying to find my wallet. We did not need any money or wallet while we were at the center, so yes… we both had forgotten them, money and all. Laughing about ourselves and how foolish we may be looking at that time, we decided to just go back the long way through the hospital hall. Benjie had another plan, he wanted to pay for our lunch!!
“No way, there is no need for you to do that! We can go back and return. We appreciate it but no.”
There where nothing on this earth and heaven that could make him change his mind up to the point that we have to allow him to do it. And that’s how we met Benjie. From that day on, he was a constant figure in our training while we stayed at Hinds VA hospital.
He was so proud of us that it become a norm for him to show up at the end of the day or during his workday just to say hello or to introduce us to someone. He wanted everyone to see, Latino wounded veterans trying to overcome our reality after a traumatic injury, in my case on the line of duty.
So, if it was not in person, it was over the phone how this retired first sergeant was actually taking care of us, probably in the same way that I was trying to take care of Brian. In one opportunity during a weekend, he picked us up at the hospital and took us to visit a park where there was a very strong Puerto Rican presence and then to dinner at a very nice Puerto Rican restaurant.
And that is when it hit me- how our army values were present on each and every step we make, on each and every intention we had and how they transcend the generational barriers. Please let me know were you able to identify the army values in the details of this story?
Loyalty.
Duty.
Honor.
Integrity.
Respect.
Selfless Service
Personal Courage
The Army has always had values, dating back to Baron von Steuben at Valley Forge in 1778 when he established those attributes and traits that an NCO should have. The values apply to every soldier who wears the uniform, from E-1 through O-10, Active, Guard, and Reserve. Army Chief of Staff General Mark A. Miley will live by the same set of values that he expects every private to live by, and I'll do the same. The Army values are leadership; leadership is Army values.
Spc. Hugo Gonzalez, U.S. Army Veteran (Retired)
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