The Finest Man I Knew

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"Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well."
~ John W. Gardner

Have you ever been truly humbled by a fellow human being? I don't mean impressed or stood in admiration of - but truly humbled? As a child I grew up reading works of Tennyson and Kipling - The Charge of The Light Brigade, If and Gunga Din made an indelible impression on this young mind. So I suppose it was inevitable that when the time came to serve with Quiet Professionals in the United States Army I would be swayed by the notions of honor, duty and courage in the face of daunting adversity. It was then, many years ago, that a wet nosed ego met his marvelous mentor. Let's call him 'Stevie' to protect his wishes. Stevie was a teacher of men. He was a quiet professional. You'd never find him on facebook or twitter. For Stevie lived by a code that rejected self promotion. His was a selfless path. The job, the quality of the end product - the men he molded spoke to his success. His wife knew. His children knew. The men whose lives he saved knew what kind of man he was. The finest man I ever knew? Well ~ "e put me safe inside, an just before 'e died..." Stevie taught me "Tain't what you do - but how you do it. That makes this life worth goin' through it." But go ahead - keep tweetin' and keep posting away but when all is said and done - We must do our job and do it well - 'cause we've all come across people like Stevie and ~ "We will meet 'em later on - in a place where they have gone". And they will know how well we've done.