United States Marines

"Perhaps you care deeply about the environment or art in schools, living conditions for animals, sustainable farming, health and healing, clean water, reading to a child, better education, integrity in business, honesty in government, curing a disease, caring for the elderly, green energy, or simply keeping the sidewalks clear for everyone to pass safely by. It doesn't matter what it is, what matters is that you somehow get involved and share your light. Who I am and your role in the world is your decision. The nature of the force you bring in the world is your creation in sharing your light. It is up to you. So what are you passionate about? What are ways out there to be involved? Perhaps there's an organization you could get involved with that is working along these same lines already. Or maybe you simply share your thoughts in writing or through your work or art- with your political leaders, in an online blog, or through charitable organizations. While it's helpful to voice the issues, it's important to get beyond the stage of raising awareness or even just complaining, and move into doing. Create actionable things to do. Create a life of sharing. Share a life of creation. Share the wisdom in the words of Bruce Lee when he said, "Real living is living for others." The effect of Hero Living. Living the Hero Effect."

"Late in the afternoon of March 24, 2003, I was digging a hole by a bridge over the Euphrates River in Iraq. I was a reporter embedded with a platoon of Marines in the elite 1st Reconnaissance Battalion. We had been under rocket and machine-gun fire for several hours. The bridge was a key crossing point for the American invasion and was hotly contested by several thousand Iraqi paramilitaries firing on our position from three sides. More than a dozen Americans had already paid for this bridge crossing with their lives. The Recon Marines I accompanied- the Special Forces of the Corps- had been ordered to hold a position beside the bridge and wait. An armored assault across the Euphrates was due any time now, and the Recon Marines were standing by to rescue the crews of any armored vehicles disabled by enemy fire. In classic military tradition, the assault had been repeatedly delayed. Now, as night approached, the Recon Marines were ordered to dig in. Machine-gun fire raked the palm trees overhead. To avoid the bullets I excavated my hole from a kneeling position. Weighted down with forty pounds of body armor and gear, I felt myself wheeze each time I pitched by shovel into the earth and scratched out more clay. I was midway through this exhausting task when I felt a steely hand grip my arm, then heard a voice: "That's it, brother. Work those biceps." Sergeant Rudy Reyes stood over me, offering an encouraging smile. It seemed Rudy had chosen this moment to continue the fitness instruction program he had begun- without my ever asking- when we had met a couple of weeks earlier, prior to the invasion. Eyeing the progress of my excavation on this combat-filled afternoon, Rudy pounded my back and added, "You see, brother. Just a little bit of fitness every day is all you need." Pausing to allow an enemy mortar to explode in the field to our rear, Rudy concluded, "Keep this up, you'll be in shape in no time.""

"Farther down the line, in the middle of a gravelly flat near the runway's end, I approached another fighting hole, careful to come from the rear and listen for the verbal challenge. It was an assault rocket team, and there should have been two Marines awake. In the moonlight, I saw three heads silhouetted against the sky. I slid down into the hole with a rustle of cascading dirt. General Mattis leaned against a wall of sandbags, talking with a sergeant and a lance corporal. That was real leadership. No one would have questioned Mattis if he'd slept eight hours each night in a private room, to be woken each morning by an aide who ironed his uniforms and heated his MREs. But there he was, in the middle of a freezing night, out on the lines with his Marines."

"The term "six degrees of separation" refers to the idea that all people on the planet are connected o each other through only a few steps of contact between one person they know to any other person. In moments when you may feel isolated or alone, it may not seem so, but what you do, what you think and say does make a difference simply because we are all connected- oftentimes in ways you may never know. But knowing every detail of the effect of your actions or your connection isn't the point of a hero's deeds. A hero's light shines simply by living true to their authentic self in sharing that light with others. There are countless ways in which to make a positive difference in the world, from sharing a smile to leading a revolution against oppression. What I'd like you to do is think of your passions and consider ways that you could share them to make a positive difference to the world and community at large. It doesn't have to be grandiose; little things can make a big difference in the life of another, and from there it ripples out. I know of a couple locally in the area where I live that are on a mission to simply hug people they meet on the street. They're respectful and not obtrusive about it, but they believe a hug can make all the difference to someone. And it's true; one woman hadn't been hugged in over seven years and broke down in tears when she felt the warm kindness of strangers with their arms around her. Imagine how that effect rippled for the rest of the day through that woman's life."

"General Mattis arrived a few minutes later, clearing the atmosphere like a thunderstorm on a humid afternoon. Mattis is kinetic. The troops who knew him from Afghanistan loved him, and everyone else loved him by reputation. Stars on a collar can throw a barrier between leader and led, but Mattis' rank only contributed to his hero status. Here was an officer, a general, who understood the Marines, who, in fact, was one of them. I caught Wynn's eye and leaned toward him to whisper a question: "You know what Mattis's call sign is?" He shook his head. "Chaos. How fucking cool is that?""

"I says, "Is that right?" "Yes, sir, Sergeant Major. And I'd rather sleep on the parade ground under a flagpole than to sleep with a goddamn black nigger." So, I says, "Well, I can take care of you tonight. Tomorrow, I'll assign you to your permanent quarters. I make it a practice to do everything I can especially for my staff NCOs." So I arranged for this gunny to have the VIP quarters that night in the staff NCO club. The next morning I told my driver to go down to supply and draw out half a tent, five tent pegs, and one pole. I said, "You know one Marine don't rate but half a tent." So I'm sitting there in my office with about twenty-five yard of campaign ribbons, a bucket of battle stars, and each one of my sleeves look like a zebra. Ain't no way in hell a man could not know I was the sergeant major. When the gunny walked in, he stopped and looked at me as though he saw a ghost. He said, "Are you the sergeant major?" I said, "Well, Gunny, you are familiar with the rank structure, aren't you?" He said, "You not the one I talked to last night, are you?" "Why sure I am. Sit down." I made him drink some coffee, and the cup was rattlin' like it was a rattlesnake. Then I drove him out to the parade grounds up to the flagpole, and said, "Here is your quarters. Now you pitch your lean-to on the flagpole like you requested." And it was raining like hell. When I came back, the tent was running full of water. I said, "Get this tent trenched out like it's supposed to be. You're ruining government property." Then he said, "I'll stay with that fella." I told him he would have to get this black sergeant to agree and bring him to my office. Well, it was all right with the sergeant, and the gunny moved in. In about three weeks, I went down to the club and this black sergeant had a white woman, and the gunny had a black woman. Having the best time you ever saw. And a few months later, the gunny and the black woman was married. They live up here near me now and got two children. Doing real fine."

"But I never let any of those things make me prejudiced right back. Especially in combat. Especially in Vietnam. I am the sergeant major. I take care of all my men, black and white."

"Edgar R. Huff enlisted in the Marine Corps in June 1942 and underwent training at the new Montford Point Camp. "I wanted to be a Marine," he said years later, "because I had always heard that the Marine Corps was the toughest outfit going, and I felt I was the toughest going, so I wanted to be a member of the best organization." His toughness and physical strength had served him well while a crane rigger for the Republic Steel Company in Alabama City, near his home town of Gadsden, Alabama. Huff reported for duty at a time when the Montford Point operation desperately needed forceful and intelligent African-Americans, with or without previous military experience, to take over from the white noncommissioned officers of the Special Enlisted Staff. Since he possessed the very qualities that the Marine Corps was seeking, he attended a drill instructor's course, served briefly as an assistant to two white drill instructors, took over a platoon of his own, and soon assumed responsibility for all the DIs at Montford Point. He made platoon sergeant in September 1943, gunnery sergeant in November of that year, and in June 1944 became first sergeant of a malaria control detachment at Montford Point. He went overseas six months later as the first sergeant of the 5th Depot Company — the second wartime unit with that designation — served on Saipan, saw combat on Okinawa, and took part in the occupation of North China. Discharged from the Marine Corps when the war ended, he spent a few months as a civilian and then reenlisted. He saw service in the Korean War and the Vietnam War. During his second tour of duty in Vietnam, he was Sergeant Major, III Marine Amphibious Force, the principal Marine Corps command in Southeast Asia. He retired in 1972 while Sergeant Major, Marine Corps Air Station, New River, North Carolina, and died in May 1994."

"Initially the recruits were trained by white officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) but citing a desire to have blacks train blacks, the Marines quickly singled out several exceptional black recruits to serve as NCO drill instructors. In January 1943, Edgar R. Huff became the first black NCO as a private first class. In February, Gilbert H. “Hashmark” Johnson, a 19-year veteran of the Army and Navy, became the first Drill Sergeant. By May 1943, all training at Montford Point was done by black sergeants and drill instructors (DIs), with Johnson as chief DI. Both Johnson and Huff would be renowned throughout the entire Marine Corps for their demanding training and exceptional leadership abilities."

"I'm not looking to be defined as someone that is there in opposition, but rather someone that's there serious about doing the job and doing the work. It's a piece of paper. I could care less about it."

"Many of my colleagues argue this major line item is worth accepting to pass the rest of the bill. I disagree: the SALT giveaway in the Build Back Better Act is larger than the child care, pre-K, healthcare or senior care provisions of the bill."

"It's the vote that is meaningful, in terms of sticking to your guns and standing by your principles, and I'm gonna stand by the fact that I think it's time to pass a torch to a new leadership team in our party"

"I think the key is keeping the Trump coalition together. I feel very strongly that the Trump coalition is made up of working people, not country club Republicans, and I think the whole country club Republican set, the establishment Republicans, the Harvard elite, they look down on the people of Ohio."

"Tonight's withdrawal signifies both the end of the military component of the evacuation, but also the end of the nearly 20-year mission that began in Afghanistan shortly after September 11th 2001. It's a mission that brought Osama Bin Laden to a just end, along with many of his Al Qaeda co-conspirators, and it was not — it was not a cheap mission: the cost was 2,461 U.S. service members and civilians killed and more than 20,000 who were injured. Sadly that includes 13 US ervice members who were killed last week by an ISIS-K suicide bomber. We honor their sacrifice today, as we remember their heroic accomplishments. No words from me could possibly capture the full measure of sacrifices and accomplishments of those who served, nor the emotions they're feeling at this moment. But I will say that I'm proud that both my son and I have been a part of it."

"While the military evacuation is complete, the diplomatic mission to ensure additional U.S. citizens and eligible Afghans who want to leave continues."

"I'm here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from Afghanistan and the end of the military mission to evacuate American citizens, third country nationals and vulnerable Afghans. The last C-17 lifted off from Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 30th, this afternoon, at 3:29 p.m. East coast time, and the last manned aircraft is now clearing the space above Afghanistan."

"I said to him, "Well, I'm just trying to find out who Hildy is, and it was out in the open, in the western street, and he yelled at me, "She's you!" You know? Like, in such a way as to say, "You're the whore," you know? He was not very nice. And he did that to men to rile them, too. There have been many men who have done things to get even with Sam, because he had no tact."

"His hatred, his loneliness, whatever that he had, his angst, he could not let it go. He had to try to drown it in alcohol. But that's like pouring gasoline on a fire. But he just would not stop. And it was common sense that he should do that, so I'm not sure that he had common sense. He would make people mad and cause fights, and then run, hide; he wouldn't be there. He would, you know, take a punch here or there, but he was not a fighter. He was a little, bitty guy. You could deck him with one punch. I probably could have, you know?"

"[T]he story [...] was really more representative of how Sam thought than any picture except Ride the High Country. He liked to laugh at things, if no one was around to catch him at it."

"I walked from the series because Jules Levy and that group had taken over my initial concept and perverted it into pap. They wouldn't let Johnny grow up; they refused to let it be the story of a boy who grows to manhood learning what it's all about."

"I did this one script for ' that turned down--said it was a piece of shit! I knew it was one of the best things I'd written, so I took it back and reworked it and at Four Star bought it as a pilot for '. Dick Powell was really a fine gentleman and the eagle behind Four Star's success; he helped me a great deal. I didn't direct the first Rifleman; did that. I just wrote it. I did direct four of them before I left, however. The first one I directed I also wrote, called "The Marshal." It was the episode that brought in as the reformed drunk who became the marshal--a part he played for five years."

"The Losers was a funny show. We had and locked up for a series with it until Tom McDermott wouldn't pay Lee's price. Well, after the show continued to draw a large segment of the audience around the sixth time out, McDermott called Lee and raised the ante to something like a million dollars and Lee told him to go stick it up his ass! I've always liked Lee for that--it cost me a lot of money at the time but I would've done the same thing in Lee's place."

"We've all grown up with the idea that gunning a man down is just fun and games. All of us, as kids, played cops and robbers, with toy pistols or pointing a finger at somebody and saying, "Bang, Bang. You're dead!" Both the movies and television have perpetuated the idea that shooting a man is clean and quick and simple, and when he falls down there is only a small hole, or a blood-stain, to show how he died. Well, killing a man isn't clean and quick and simple. It's bloody and awful. And maybe if enough people come to realize that shooting somebody isn't just fun and games maybe we'll get somewhere about violence on the screen in the first place. [...] No, I don't like violence. In fact, when I look at the film myself, I find it unbearable. I don't think I'll be able to see it again for five years."

"It would've been nicer if he didn't pose as he did, and sit behind sunglasses that have mirrors on them so that no one could see his eyes. Because he was such a liar, he was afraid to get caught, because if you look in someone's eyes deeply enough, you can tell they're lying. So he was afraid of that; he wouldn't let anyone see his eyes."

"The whole underside of our society has always been violence and still is. Churches, laws--everybody seems to think that man is a noble savage. But he's only an animal. A meat-eating, talking animal. Recognize it. He also has grace and love and beauty. But don't say to me we're not violent."

"Sam and I work well together. I would go to and from work with him, so we would have that extra time to talk with each other—that kind of thing is very unusual, but I think something comes of that proximity."

"Sam's like a fight trainer. He shapes you up, he psyches you, he draws everything out of you. He's subtle, though, yet baroque, and I want to get into that baroqueness. Like the other day, during a scene in which I was supposed to be answering the door and registering surprise. Well, it was the end of the day and I wasn't acting very surprised, so he smashes a beer bottle behind me, right out of camera range. I mean, Christ, I nearly jumped out of my skin. But he got what he wanted."

"Our efforts are our values in action...It is our values, not our weapons, that are the basis of our success, both on and off the battlefield."

"The military profession is one that deals with life and death, of individuals and nations."

"There was a local Afghan boy, about twelve, who loved the Marines and would always salute us when we would walk out of our patrol base on foot. He and his eight-year-old brother even made a game of trying to snatch water bottles and goodies from the "dump pouches" on the back of our SAPI (small arms protective insert) plates, which were designed to carry empty magazines from firefights but doubled as snack, candy, and water bottle carriers. The two boys got to be friends with us, and through months of talking and playing with us would sometimes tell us where well-hidden IEDs were buried. Our EOD (explosive ordinance disposal) guys made a good show of trying to make it appear that their discoveries were accidental before the explosives were defused, but in Taliban strongholds, eyes are always watching. One night, about two weeks after I was evacuated, a grenade was thrown over the wall of our compound and detonated at exactly the spot where my now-empty bunk sat. No one was injured, but it obviously shook everyone up a bit. A few nights later, that same boy who used to salute us showed up at our patrol base in the middle of the night to tell us he threw that grenade. He was sobbing and begging the Marines to forgive him and not to kill him. The Taliban had caught on that he was friendly with us and that fewer IEDs were being detonated. They suspected he was the cause, so they beat him senseless- but they didn't kill him. Instead, for his final punishment, they dragged him to the wall of our compound, placed a grenade in his hand, and pulled the pin. A twelve-year-old child was forced to kill or be killed. That was just one story of countless others we heard- stories of violence, ritual stoning of women, pushing people off buildings for being gay. And children forced to become weapons of war."

"It is incredible to think about the places freedom can take you."

"How is one not affected witnessing that degree of evil? You remind yourself why you were over there in the first place- to put a stop to the Taliban and their torture and oppression of their own people. You remind yourself that, if you were able to weaken their stronghold or just give hope to those innocent people, even in the smallest of ways, so that one day they might taste the freedom of safety, then you made a difference. That helps you stay focused. That helps you stay motivated. Life looks different on the other side of a tragedy. The things you once valued have changed. The things you once believed in are scrambled. The things you focused on from day to day are different now. You are still you, but you aren't exactly the same and you never will be again."

"For weeks afterward, I could wake up wondering, Now what? Every morning started with a question for which I didn't have an answer, except to do whatever the next thing was that day. I developed a daily mantra, and I still say something similar to myself each morning: "I don't know what I want to do or how I'm going to do it or where I might end up, but as long as I work hard, try to do the right thing, try to be a good person, and try to help people- I can't go wrong doing that.""

"As we sat together in that kitchen, with the overhead lights reflecting back against the darkness outside, I had a realization: I could spend my life sitting at that counter, or I could get up and live. I chose to get up and live."

"The more I fought for my future instead of against my past, the more I realized that there wasn't just life for me on the other side of this- there was life for me in the middle of it. My life wasn't going to start again after my recovery, because, truthfully, my recovery is not something that will ever be complete or ever be over. But by letting go of a world where I wasn't injured, I could focus on the life I had been given- a second chance that not everyone is lucky enough to get."

"Stay motivated. It gets old. It gets predictable. It becomes cliché. But in the end, it's good advice. And sometimes, you don't need platitudes or well-wishes or rousing speeches or photo ops, you just need to remember to take the step right in front of you and keep pushing forward, come what may. Honors and rewards are great, but it can't sustain you- you have to keep plugging away on the awful days as well as the great ones. You have to keep trying. You have to keep hanging on, even when there doesn't seem to be any reason to stick to it. You have to find that reason within yourself. You have to stay motivated."

"I'm proud of what I did, but at the same time, I'm surprised by it. My guess is that you have surprised yourself, too- that there have been times when you didn't put much forethought into the moment but, looking back, you realize how boldly you acted. It may have been the action of a moment or it could have been the strength and persistence of weathering a particularly difficult season in your life. As you reflect on it now, you are probably surprised at what you were capable of doing. The fallout of that time for you might not be as readily obvious as mine was, but the idea is the same: You did what you had to do and you made your world- our world- a little bit better. That's courage. That's heroism. That's honor. Thank you for your service."

"I don't remember much about the incident and I definitely don't remember what I was thinking about in the moment, but, again, that's the amazing thing about people: You never know how you're going to step up, or when."

"Kyle Carpenter's memoir of gallantry beyond the call of duty provides a vital reminder that grit and valor remain American hallmarks. A compelling account of a life well-lived against the toughest odds, one that will inspire and build confidence in every reader."

"I think Kyle Carpenter is one of the greatest living Americans, and I'm honored to know him. His words, though soft-spoken, are thunderous to the spirit. The only thing more powerful than his story is his message. He is an ambassador of selflessness, reminding us that when we take care of each other, we are extraordinary no matter how ordinary we think we are. This book is important. After I read it I wanted to be better. Please share it with the people you love."

"Kyle Carpenter has shown true courage and strength in the face of extraordinary challenges. He never lost his faith or his will to serve his fellow brothers and sisters. His memoirs inspires us and makes all Americans proud."

"The president of the United States, in the name of the congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Lance Corporal William "Kyle" Carpenter, United States Marine Corps, For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an Automatic Rifleman with Company F, 2d Battalion, 9th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 1, 1st Marine Division (Forward), 1 Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), in Helmand Province, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom on 21 November 2010. Lance Corporal Carpenter was a member of a platoon-sized coalition force, comprised of two reinforced Marine squads partnered with an Afghan National Army squad. The platoon had established Patrol Base Dakota two days earlier in a small village in the Marjah District in order to disrupt enemy activity and provide security for the local Afghan population. Lance Corporal Carpenter and a fellow Marine were manning a rooftop security position on the perimeter of Patrol Base Dakota when the enemy initiated a daylight attack with hand grenades, one of which landed inside their sandbagged position. Without hesitation, and with complete disregard for his own safety, Lance Corporal Carpenter moved toward the grenade in an attempt to shield his fellow Marine from the deadly blast. When the grenade detonated, his body absorbed the brunt of the blast, severely wounding him, but saving the life of his fellow Marine. By his undaunted courage, bold fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of almost certain death, Lance Corporal Carpenter reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service."

"At the White House, Mattis found the president in a good mood. They walked into the Oval Office and sat down. "Mr. President, we've got to come to an understanding here. This enemy is not going away." He noted that he had been through this before, when Obama walked away in Iraq. "These terrorist groups regenerate." The U.S. military had to win not just the fighting but the peace. "Our allies are there, and we can force this thing to closure now if we still have traction, if we still have our troops there." Mattis was like a broken record, repeating that the strongest military presence gave the diplomats the leverage to speak with authority- work with the diplomats, avoid the use of additional military force. "You guys will have us fighting forever," Trump said. "No," Mattis said. "The Kurds have done the fighting. Let's be right up front." "It's cost us billions." "Well, a lot of other nations too- 77 nations plus Interpol, Arab League, NATO." Trump was not moving, Mattis could see. There was no give. He had decided, and that was it. Mattis had seen it before. Nothing. It was over. "We beat them," Trump said. "There's no need." "We're not taking casualties," Mattis said. "But we haven't beaten them. We've done the military part. Now we have to win the part that's going to make sure we don't have to go back in, like your predecessor who pulled out of Iraq too early and we have to go back in." Trump did not agree. Mattis knew he could only quit once. "Mr. President, it's probably best you read this.""

"Mattis was shocked. Once again Trump had not consulted his secretary of defense and made a major announcement with no warning. His first thought: How could we break with our allies? His second was the timing: It was just two weeks after the Ottawa meeting with all the commitments and pledges. He sat there and thought, my God, they're going to think I lied to them. They won't believe I had no idea about this. And now we're going to leave them high and dry. We're going to do what Obama did when he said we're going after the Syrians for the chemical weapons use and the French planes were armed, and they were ready to go when he walked. And the Kurds were going to be left unprotected and possibly slaughtered by Turkey. "John," Mattis said in a call to John Kelly, "I need an hour with the boss." "You got it," said Kelly. Mattis figured that Kelly knew what it was about, but the chief of staff, who had been blindsided by the president so many times and announced ten days earlier that he would soon be leaving, did not ask. Nine months earlier, Mattis had watched Rex Tillerson fired by tweet. The decision announcements by tweet were all wrong, in Mattis's view. Trump lived in his own head and if he wanted, out came an idea or a decision. It did not matter what anybody else thought. Mattis once said, "In any organization you become complicit with what the organization is doing." For nearly two years Mattis had gone along. As commander in chief, Trump called the shots. Mattis decided he was no longer going to be complicit. He went to his Pentagon office and began writing his resignation letter."

"The General is a small man in his mid-fifties who moves and speaks quickly, with a vowel-mashing speech impediment that gives him a sort of folksy charm. A bold thinker, Mattis' favorite battlefield expression is "Doctrine is the last refuge of the unimaginative." On the battlefield, his call sign is "Chaos." His plan for the Marines in Iraq would hinge on disregarding sacred tenets of American military doctrine. His goal was not to shield his Marines from Chaos, but to embrace it. No unit would embody this daring philosophy than First Recon."

"In the months leading up to the war on Iraq, battles over doctrine and tactics were still raging within the military. The struggle was primarily between the more cautious "Clinton generals" in the Army, who advocated a methodical invasion with a robust force of several hundred thousand, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his acolytes, who argued for a much smaller invasion force- one that would rely on speed and mobility more than on firepower. Rumsfeld's interest in "maneuver warfare," as the doctrine that emphasizes mobility over firepower is called, predated invasion planning for Iraq. Ever since becoming Secretary of Defense, Rumsfeld had been pushing for his vision of a stripped-down, more mobile military force on the Pentagon as part of a sweeping transformation plan. Mattis and the Marine Corps had been moving in that direction for nearly a decade. The Iraq campaign would showcase the Marines' role in Iraq as a rush. While the U.S. Army- all-powerful, slow-moving and cautious- planned its methodical, logistically robust movement up a broad, desert highway, Mattis prepared the Marines for an entirely different campaign. After seizing southern oil facilities within the first forty-eight hours of the war, Mattis planned to immediately send First Recon and a force of some 6,000 Marines into a violent assault through Iraq's Fertile Crescent. Their mission would be to seize the most treacherous route to Baghdad- the roughly 185-kilometer-long, canal-laced urban and agricultural corridor from Nasiriyah to Al Kut."

""We must not declare victory," said France's Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly, leaning forward, "and walk away and wonder why it comes right back at it." On the verge of victory was the time to stay the course and avoid the temptation of a premature withdrawal. Everyone seemed to be nodding. Perfect, thought Mattis. Everyone was on board. He could ignore his written talking points. He wouldn't have to say a word. The sale was made. Finally the meeting was turned over to him as the representative of the lead nation. Mattis summarized the others' points and said he couldn't agree more strongly. Then they all discussed how they would keep their troops there, the exact words to explain the essential rationale underlying their plans: They had to persist because the fight against ISIS was not over. My God, this is great, Mattis thought. He called White House chief of staff John Kelly. "John, the nations are with us. They're not pulling. They're going to stay on the ground. It's time to force it into the Geneva peace process"- to support the Kurds, who had done most of the fighting. "I'll talk t o Mike Pompeo." Back in Washington on Wednesday, December 19, Mattis saw a tweet pop up from the president: "We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency." Later that day, Trump released a one-minute video and tweet underscoring his earlier message: "After historic victories against ISIS, it's time to bring our great young people home!" The United States was withdrawing from Syria."

"Saddam had viewed this route, with its almost impenetrable terrain of canals, villages, rickety bridges, hidden tar swamps and dense groves of palm trees, as his not-so-secret weapon in bogging down the Americans. Thousands of Saddam loyalists, both Iraqi regulars and foreign jihadi warriors from Syria, Egypt and Palestinian refugee camps, would hunker down in towns and ambush points along the route. They had excavated thousands of bunkers along the main roads, sown mines and pre-positioned tens of thousands of weapons. When Saddam famously promised to sink the American invaders into a "quagmire," he was probably thinking of the road from Nasiriyah to Al Kut. It was the worst place in Iraq to send an invading army. Mattis planned to subvert the quagmire strategy Saddam had planned there by throwing out a basic element of military doctrine: His Marines would assault through the planned route and continue moving without pausing to establish rear security. According to conventional wisdom, invading armies take great pains to secure supply lines to their rear, or they perish. In Mattis' plan, the Marines would never stop charging."

"Mattis, Tillerson and Coats are all conservatives or apolitical people who wanted to help him and the country. Imperfect men who answered the call to public service. They were not the deep state. Yet each departed with cruel words from their leader. They concluded that Trump was an unstable threat to their country. Think about that for a moment: The top national security leaders thought the president of the United States was a danger to the country."

"White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who was a commander in the Naval Reserves, tried several times to persuade Mattis to appear on Sunday talk shows on behalf of the administration. The answer was always no. "Sean," Mattis finally said, "I've killed people for a living. If you call me again, I'm going to fucking send you to Afghanistan. Are we clear?""