Sergeant Fury
Sergeant Fury
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea,[2] using the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. It is one of seven uniformed services of the U.S.. Administratively, the Marine Corps is a component of the Department of the Navy,[3][4] but it acts operationally as a separate branch of the military, often working closely with US Naval forces for training, transportation, and logistic purposes.
Originally organized as the Continental Marines on November 10, 1775 as naval infantry, the Marine Corps has evolved in its mission with changing military doctrine and American foreign policy. The Marine Corps has served in every American armed conflict and attained prominence in the 20th century when its theories and practice of amphibious warfare proved prescient and ultimately formed the cornerstone of the Pacific campaign of World War II.[5] By the mid 20th century, the Marine Corps had become the dominant theorist and practitioner of amphibious warfare.[6][7][8] Its ability to respond rapidly to regional crises gives it a strong role in the implementation and execution of American foreign policy.
Television">http://www.himfr.com/buy-Television_Size/">Television SizeThe United States Marine Corps, with 194,000 active duty and 40,000 reserve Marines,[10] is the smallest of the United States' armed forces in the Department of Defense (the United States Coast Guard is smaller, about one fifth the size of the Marine Corps, but serves under Homeland Security). The Corps is nonetheless larger than the entire armed forces of many significant military powers; for example, it is larger than the active duty Israel Defense Forces or the whole of the British Army.
The United States Marine Corps serves as an amphibious force-in-readiness. As outlined in 10 U.S.C. § 5063, and originally introduced under the National Security Act of 1947, it has three primary areas of responsibility:
"The seizure or defense of advanced naval bases and other land operations to support naval campaigns;
The development of tactics, technique, and equipment used by amphibious landing forces; and
Such other duties as the President may direct."
This last clause, while seemingly redundant given the President's position as Commander-in-Chief, is a codification of the expeditionary duties of the Marine Corps. It derives from similar language in the Congressional Acts "For the Better Organization of the Marine Corps" of 1834, and "Establishing and Organizing a Marine Corps" of 1798. In 1951, the House of Representatives' Armed Services Committee called the clause "one of the most important statutory—and traditional—functions of the Marine Corps." It noted that the Corps has more often than not performed actions of a non-naval nature, including its famous actions in the War of 1812, at Tripoli, Chapultepec, numerous counter-insurgency and occupational duties (such as those in Central America), World War I, and the Korean War. While these actions are not accurately described as support of naval campaigns nor as amphibious warfare, their common thread is that they are of an expeditionary nature, using the mobility of the Navy to provide timely intervention in foreign affairs on behalf of American interests.
In addition to its primary duties, the Marine Corps has missions in direct support of the White House and the State Department. The Marine Band, dubbed the "President's Own" by Thomas Jefferson, provides music for state functions at the White House. Marines guard presidential retreats, including Camp David,[14] and the Marines of the Executive Flight Detachment of HMX-1 provide helicopter transport to the President and Vice President, using the call signs "Marine One" and "Marine Two" respectively. By authority of the 1946 Foreign Service act, the Marine security guards of the Marine Embassy Security Command provide security for American embassies, legations, and consulates at over 110 posts worldwide.
At its founding, the Marine Corps was composed of infantry serving aboard naval vessels and was responsible for the security of the ship and her crew by conducting offensive and defensive combat during boarding actions, and defending the ship's officers from mutiny; to the latter end, their quarters on ship were often strategically positioned between the officers' quarters and the rest of the vessel. Continental Marines were also responsible for manning raiding parties, both at sea and ashore. America's first amphibious assault landing occurred early in the Revolutionary War as the Marines gained control of a British ammunition depot and naval port in New Providence, Bahamas. The role of the Marine Corps has since expanded significantly; as the importance of its original naval mission declined with changing naval warfare doctrine and the professionalization of the Naval service, the Corps adapted by focusing on what were formerly secondary missions ashore. The Advanced Base doctrine of the early 20th century codified their combat duties ashore, outlining the use of Marines in the seizure of bases and other duties on land to support naval campaigns. The Marines would also develop tactics and techniques of amphibious assault on defended coastlines in time for use in World War II.[16] Its original mission of providing shipboard security finally ended in the 1990s, when the last Marine security detachments were withdrawn from U.S. Navy ships.
While the Marine Corps does not employ any unique combat arms, as a force it has the unique ability to rapidly deploy a combined-arms task force to almost anywhere in the world within days. The basic structure for all deployed units is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) that integrates a ground combat element, an aviation combat element, and a logistics combat element combat component under a common command element. While the creation of joint commands under the Goldwater-Nichols Act has improved inter-service coordination between the U.S. military services, the Corps' ability to permanently maintain integrated multi-element task forces under a single command provides a smoother implementation of combined-arms warfare principles.[5]
The close integration of disparate Marine units stems from an organizational culture centered around the infantry. Every other Marine capability exists to support the infantry. Unlike some Western militaries, the Corps remained conservative against theories proclaiming the ability of new weapons to win wars independently. For example, Marine Aviation has always been focused on close air support and has remained largely uninfluenced by air power theories proclaiming that strategic bombing can single-handedly win wars.
This focus on the infantry is matched with the doctrine that "Every Marine is a rifleman," a focus of Commandant Alfred M. Gray, Jr., emphasizing the infantry combat abilities of every Marine. All enlisted Marines, regardless of military specialization, receive training as a rifleman; all officers receive training as infantry platoon commanders.[17] The value of this culture has been demonstrated many times throughout history. For example, at Wake Island, when all of the Marine aircraft were shot down, pilots continued the fight as ground officers, leading supply clerks and cooks in a final defensive effort.[18] As a result, a large degree of initiative and autonomy is expected of junior Marines, particularly the NCOs, (corporals and sergeants), as compared with many other military organizations. The Marine Corps emphasizes authority and responsibility downward to a greater degree than the other military services. Flexibility of execution is implemented via an emphasis on "commander's intent" as a guiding principle for carrying out orders; specifying the end state but leaving open the method of execution.[19]
The amphibious assault techniques developed for World War II evolved, with the addition of air assault and maneuver warfare doctrine, into the current "Operational Maneuver from the Sea" doctrine of power projection from the seas.[2] The Marines are credited with the development of helicopter insertion doctrine and were the earliest in the American military to widely adopt maneuver-warfare principles, which emphasize low-level initiative and flexible execution.
The U.S. Marine Corps relies on the U.S. Navy for sealift to provide its rapid deployment capabilities. In addition to basing a third of the Marine Corps Operating Forces in Japan, Marine Expeditionary Units (MEU) are typically stationed at sea. This allows the ability to function as first responders to international incidents. The U.S. Army now maintains light infantry units capable of rapid worldwide deployment, but those units do not match the combined-arms integration of a MAGTF, and lack the logistics that the Navy provides.[5] For this reason, the Marine Corps is often assigned to non-combat missions such as the evacuation of Americans from unstable countries and humanitarian relief of natural disasters. In larger conflicts, Marines act as a stopgap, to get into and hold an area until larger units can be mobilized. The Corps performed this role in World War I, and the Korean War, where Marines were the first significant combat units deployed from the United States and held the line until the country could mobilize for war.
The United States Marine Corps traces its institutional roots to the Continental Marines of the American Revolutionary War, formed at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, by a resolution of the Second Continental Congress on November 10, 1775 to raise 2 battalions of Marines. That date is regarded and celebrated as the date of the Marine Corps' "birthday". At the end of the American Revolution in 1783, both the Continental Navy and Continental Marines were disbanded, and although individual Marines were enlisted for the few American naval vessels left, the institution itself would not be resurrected until 1798. In that year, in preparation for the Naval War with France, Congress created the United States Navy and Marine Corps.
The Marines' most famous action of this period occurred during the First Barbary War (1801–1805) against the Barbary pirates,[22] when William Eaton and First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon led seven Marines and 300 mercenaries in an effort to capture Tripoli. Though they only reached Derna, the action at Tripoli has been immortalized in the Marines' hymn and the Mameluke Sword carried by Marine officers.
During the War of 1812, Marine naval detachments took part in the great frigate duels that characterized the war, which were the first American victories in the conflict. Their most significant contributions were delaying the British march to Washington, D.C. at the Battle of Bladensburg and holding the center of Gen. Andrew Jackson's defensive line at the defense of New Orleans. By the end of the war, the Marines had acquired a well-deserved reputation as expert marksmen, especially in ship-to-ship actions.
After the war, the Marine Corps fell into a depression that ended with the appointment of Archibald Henderson as its fifth commandant in 1820. Under his tenure, the Corps took on expeditionary duties in the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Key West, West Africa, the Falkland Islands, and Sumatra. Commandant Henderson is credited with thwarting President Jackson's attempts to combine and integrate the Marine Corps with the Army.[23] Instead, Congress passed the Act for the Better Organization of the Marine Corps in 1834, stipulating that the Corps was part of the Department of the Navy as a sister service to the U.S. Navy.[24] This would be the first of many times that the existance of the Corps was challenged.
Commandant Henderson volunteered the Marines for service in the Seminole Wars of 1835, personally leading nearly half of the entire Corps (two battalions) to war. A decade later, in the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), the Marines made their famed assault on Chapultepec Palace in Mexico City, which would be later celebrated by the phrase "From The Halls of Montezuma" in Marines' hymn. In the 1850s, the Marines would see further service in Panama and Asia, escorting Matthew Perry's East India Squadron on its historic trip to the Far East.
With their vast service in foreign engagements, the Marine Corps played a moderate role in the Civil War (1861–1865); their most prominent task was blockade duty. As more and more states seceded from the Union, about half of the Corps' officers also left the Union to join the Confederacy and form the Confederate States Marine Corps, which ultimately played little part in the war. The battalion of recruits formed for the First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas) performed poorly, retreating with the rest of the Union forces.
The remainder of the 19th century was marked by declining strength and introspection about the mission of the Marine Corps. The U.S. Navy's transition from sail to steam put into question the need for Marines on naval ships. Meanwhile, Marines served as a convenient resource for interventions and landings to protect American lives and interests overseas. The Corps was involved in over 28 separate interventions in the 30 years from the end of the American Civil War to the end of 19th century. They would also be called upon to stem political and labor unrest within the United States.[26] Under Commandant Jacob Zeilin's tenure, Marine customs and traditions took shape: the Corps adopted the Marine Corps emblem on November 19, 1868. It was also during this time that "The Marines' Hymn" was first heard. Around 1883, the Marines adopted their current motto "Semper Fidelis" (Latin: Always Faithful).
John Philip Sousa, the musician and composer, enlisted as a Marine apprentice at the age of 13, serving from 1867 until 1872, and again from 1880 to 1892 as the leader of the Marine Band.
During the Spanish–American War (1898), Marines led U.S. forces ashore in the Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, demonstrating their readiness for deployment. At Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the Marines seized an advanced naval base that remains in use today. Between 1899 and 1916, the Corps continued its record of participation in foreign expeditions, including the Philippine-American War, the Boxer Rebellion in China (1899–1901), Panama, the Cuban Pacifications, the Perdicaris Incident in Morocco, Veracruz, Santo Domingo, and the Banana Wars in Haiti and Nicaragua; the experiences gained in counter-insurgency and guerrilla operations during this period were consolidated into the Small Wars Manual.
During World War I veteran Marines served a central role in the late American entry into the conflict. Unlike the U.S. Army, the Marine Corps had a deep pool of officers and NCOs with battle experience, and experienced a relatively smaller expansion. Here, the Marines fought their famed battle at Belleau Wood, creating the Marines' reputation in modern history. While its previous expeditionary experiences had not earned it much acclaim in the Western world, the Marines' fierceness and toughness in France earned them the respect of the Germans, who rated them of stormtrooper quality. Though Marines and American media reported that Germans had nicknamed them Teufel Hunden as meaning "Devil Dogs," there is no evidence of this in German records (as Teufelshunde would be the proper German phrase), it was possibly American propaganda. Nevertheless, the name stuck.[28] The Corps had entered the war with 511 officers and 13,214 enlisted personnel, and by November 11, 1918 had reached a strength of 2,400 officers and 70,000 men.[29]
Between the World Wars, the Marine Corps was headed by Commandant John A. Lejeune, and under his leadership, the Corps presciently studied and developed amphibious techniques that would be of great use in World War II. Many officers, including Lt. Col. Earl Hancock "Pete" Ellis, foresaw a war in the Pacific with Japan and took preparations for such a conflict. Through 1941, as the prospect of war grew, the Corps pushed urgently for joint amphibious exercises and acquired amphibious equipment that would prove of great use in the upcoming conflict.
US Marines on Iwo Jima raise the American flag.
In World War II, the Marines played a central role in the Pacific War. The battles of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Cape Gloucester, Saipan, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa saw fierce fighting between U.S. Marines and the Imperial Japanese Army.
Philip Johnston proposed the use of Navajo as a code language to the Corps. The idea was accepted, and the Navajo code was formally developed and modeled on the Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet.
During the battle of Iwo Jima, photographer Joe Rosenthal took the famous photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima of five Marines and one Navy Corpsman raising the American flag on Mt. Suribachi. Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal, having come ashore earlier that day, said of the flag raising, "...the raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next five hundred years." The acts of the Marines during the war added to their already significant popular reputation. By war's end, the Corps expanded from two brigades to six divisions, five air wings, and supporting troops, totaling about 485,000 Marines. In addition, 20 defense battalions and a parachute battalion were set raised.[31] Nearly 87,000 Marines were casualties during World War II (including nearly 20,000 killed), and 82 were awarded the Medal of Honor.[32]
Despite Secretary Forrestal's prediction, the Corps faced an immediate institutional crisis following the war. Army generals pushing for a strengthened and reorganized defense establishment also attempted to fold the Marine mission and assets into the Navy and Army. Drawing on hastily assembled Congressional support, the Marine Corps rebuffed such efforts to dismantle the Corps, resulting in statutory protection of the Marine Corps in the National Security Act of 1947.[33] Shortly afterward, in 1952 the Douglas-Mansfield Bill afforded the Commandant an equal voice with the Joint Chiefs of Staff on matters relating to the Marines and established the structure of three active divisions and air wings that remain today.
The Korean War (1950–1953) saw the hastily formed Provisional Marine Brigade holding the defensive line at the Pusan Perimeter. To execute a flanking maneuver, General Douglas MacArthur called on Marine air and ground forces to make an amphibious landing at Inchon. The successful landing resulted in the collapse of North Korean lines and the pursuit of North Korean forces north near the Yalu River until the entrance of the People's Republic of China into the war. Chinese troops surrounded, surprised and overwhelmed the overextended and outnumbered American forces. X Corps, which included the 1st Marine Division and the Army's 7th Infantry Division, regrouped and inflicted heavy casualties during their fighting withdrawal to the coast, now known as the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Marines would continue a battle of attrition around the 38th Parallel until the 1953 armistice.[34] The Korean War saw the Corps expand from 75,000 regulars to a force of 261,000 Marines, mostly reservists. 30,544 Marines were killed or wounded during the war and 42 were awarded the Medal of Honor.[35]
The Marine Corps served an important role in the Vietnam War taking part in such battles as Da Nang, Hue City, and Khe Sanh. Individuals from the USMC operated in the Northern I Corps Regions of South Vietnam. While there, they were constantly engaged in a guerilla war against the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF) and an intermittent conventional war against the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). Portions of the Corps were responsible for the less-known Combined Action Program (CAP) that implemented unconventional techniques for counter-insurgency and worked as military advisors to the Republic of Vietnam Marine Corps. Marines were withdrawn in 1971, and returned briefly in 1975 to evacuate Saigon and attempt a rescue of the crew of the Mayagüez.
Vietnam was the longest war for Marines; by its end, 13,091[37][38] were killed in action, 51,392 were wounded, and 57 Medals of Honor were awarded.[39][40] Due to policies concerning rotation, more Marines were deployed for service during Vietnam than World War II.
While recovering from Vietnam, the Corps hit a detrimental low point in its service history caused by courts-martial and Non-Judicial Punishments related partially to increased Unauthorized Absences and Desertions during the war. Overhauling of the Corps began in the late 1970s, discharging the most delinquent, and once quality of new recruits improved, the Corps focused on reforming the NCO Corps, a vital functioning part of its forces.[5]
After Vietnam, the Marines resumed their expeditionary role, participating in the 1980 Iran hostage rescue attempt Operation Eagle Claw, the invasion of Grenada (Operation Urgent Fury) and the invasion of Panama (Operation Just Cause). On October 23, 1983, the Marine headquarters building in Beirut, Lebanon, was bombed, causing the highest peacetime losses to the Corps in its history (220 Marines and 21 other service members of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit were killed) and leading to the American withdrawal from the country. The year of 1990 saw Marines of the Joint Task Force Sharp Edge save thousands of lives by evacuating the British, French and American Nationals from the violence of the Liberian Civil War. During the Persian Gulf War (1990–1991), Marine task forces formed the initial core for Operation Desert Shield, while U.S. and Coalition troops mobilized, and later liberated Kuwait in Operation Desert Storm.[23] U.S. Marines participated in combat operations in Somalia (1992–1995) during Operations Restore Hope, Restore Hope II, and United Shield to provide humanitarian relief.
Following the September 11, 2001 attacks President George W. Bush announced a War on Terrorism. The stated objective of the Global War on Terror is "the defeat of Al-Qaeda, other terrorist groups and any nation that supports or harbors terrorists".[43] Since then, the Marine Corps, alongside other military and federal agencies, has engaged in global operations around the world in support of that mission.
Marines and other U.S. forces began staging in Pakistan and Uzbekistan on the border of Afghanistan as early as October 2001 in preparation for Operation Enduring Freedom.[44] The 15th and 26th Marine Expeditionary Units were the first conventional forces into Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in November 2001, and in December, the Marines seized Kandahar International Airport.[45] Since, then Marine battalions and squadrons have been rotating through, engaging Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces.
In 2002, Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) was stood up at Camp Lemonier to provide regional security.[46] Despite transferring overall command to the U.S. Navy in 2006, the Marines have continued to operate in the Horn of Africa into 2007.
Most recently, the Marines have served prominently in the Iraq War. The I Marine Expeditionary Force, along with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, spearheaded the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[48] During the occupation of Iraq, Marines spearheaded both assaults on the city of Fallujah in April (Operation Vigilant Resolve) and November 2004 (Operation Phantom Fury).[49] Their time in Iraq has also courted controversy with the Haditha incident and the Hamdania incident.[44][50] They currently continue to operate throughout Iraq.
About the Author
Himfr is a scholar, focusing his research on Chinese cultures. If you are interested in purchasing China goods, please visit www.himfr.com
Should army stop using Hooah?
Now that the Army has new uniforms and boots and headgear, should they do somthing with the HOOAH thing? In spite of what Soldiers Magazine, AFN, and the Sergeant Major says nobody in the Army really used it untill late 80's, and then it was the Infantry.(That Indian Chief story is a real crock) I say Army should yell WAA-HOO instead like Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commados.
No Marines say Hoo Rah..big difference.
I guess thats why army guys can fly right out of high school but airforce dudes need to go to school for 4 more years. HUH?
Its NOT a tradition! Its some annoying thing someone made up.GI's in Normandy never used it nor Korea or Vietnam. After 1st Gulf War it started to be used more and more.
I have 2 kids in the army, they say it, but like, a joke, or whatever. The Marines sound better, cooler. It's too much of a tradition to change it, but yeah, if you could, you would get NO complaint from the Army!
Sergeant Fury
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Sgt.Fury: SAHB Story 2004
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Sharpe's Fury $5.69 For more than twenty years, Richard Sharpe, the brave and dashing officer who rose from rags on the street to a commission in his majesty's army, has been thrilling audiences on both the page and on screen. Now the incomparable Bernard Cornwell ("the greatest writer of historical novels today"*) returns with a thrilling new installmentthe first new Sharpe novel in more than two years. The year is 1811. With the British army penned into a small part of Portugal, and all of Spain fallen to the invader except for the coastal city of CÁdiz, the French appear to have won their war. Captain Richard Sharpe has no business being in CÁdiz, but when an attack on a French-held bridge goes disastrously wrong, Sharpeaccompanied by Harper, his loyal Irish sergeant, and the obnoxious Brigadier Moonfinds himself in a city under French siege. It is also a town riven by political rivalry. Some Spaniards believe their country's future would be best served if they broke their alliance with Britain and forged a friendship with NapolÉon's France; their cause is only strengthened when some letters written to a prostitute by the British ambassador fall into their possession. They resort to blackmail, and Sharpe, raised in the gutters of London and taught to fight, is released into the alleys of CÁdiz to find the woman and retrieve the letters. Yet defeating the blackmailers will not save the city. That is up to the charismatic Scotsman, Sir Thomas Graham, who takes a small British force o attack the French siege lines. The attack goes horribly wrong; Sir Thomas's outnumbered army is trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea, and on a March morning, at Barrosa, Richard Sharpe finds himself embroiled in one of the most desperate infantry struggles ever fought. Sir Thomas has his own reasons for revenge, as does Sharpe, who goes into battle seeking the French colonel who precipitated the disaster that stranded Sharpe in CÁdiz. In a bloody and stirring battle, Sharpe and the English get their revenge and their victory, but at a terrible cost. A triumph of both historical and battle fiction, Sharpe's Fury will sweep both old and new Sharpe fans into their hero's incredible adventures. |
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Fury $6.49 From one of the world's truly great writers, Fury is a wickedly brilliant and pitch-black comedy about a middle-aged professor who finds himself in New York City in the summer of 2000. Not since the Bombay of Midnight's Children have a time and place been so intensely and accurately captured in a novel. Fury opens on a New York living at breakneck speed in an age of unprecedented decadence. Malik Solanka,, a Cambridge-educated self-made millionaire originally from Bombay, arrives looking, perversely, for escape. This former philosophy professor is the inventor of the hugely popular doll, Little Brain, whose multiform ubiquity - as puppet, cartoon and masked woman - now rankles with him. He becomes frustratingly estranged from his own creation. At the same time, his marriage is disintegrating: it escalates into a rage-filled battle, and Solanka very nearly commits an unforgivable act. Horrified by the fury within him, he flees home and family and becomes a sort of spiritual mendicant - except that he has a credit card and a duplex on the Upper West Side. Solanka discovers that he has come to a city Roiling with anger, where cab drivers spout invective and a serial killer is murdering women with a lump of concrete, a metropolis whose population is united by petty spats and bone-deep resentments. His own thoughts, emotions and desires, meanwhile, are also running wild. Solanka's navigation of his new world makes for a hugely entertaining and compulsively readable novel. Fury is a pitiless comedy that lays bare the darkest side of human nature with spectacular insight and much glee. |
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What To Do After You've Been Betrayed
It might have been your best friend, your partner, your boss, your brother or even your lover. It burns deep inside. You can't sleep for the anger, the shock and dismay. You may find yourself still not believing it's happened to you. But it has!
When those we have entrusted with our money, our plans, our strategies, our loyalty or even our love betray us, we feel violated deep inside. We feel crushed. We wonder if we can ever recover from this.
It is at this moment of realization that you will make some of the most important decisions of your entire life. The three most critical choices you will make - whether you realize it or not are: (1) what to focus on; (2) what to believe; and (3) what to expect from this point forward. These three choices will determine the final impact this betrayal has on your life.
A LESSON FROM MICKEY
Most people don't know that Walt Disney suffered a great business defeat early in his career. While living and working out of his uncle's garage, Walt Disney had created a cartoon character called "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" and signed a contract with Universal Studios to create animated short films about the little fury critter that would be shown before the main feature film at theaters. The short films enjoyed great success, but in his youth and naivete, Walt did not realize that he had signed away the rights to the character. When his contract came up for renewal, Universal Studios refused to renew the contract and announced that it owned the exclusive rights to produce films using "Oswald The Lucky Rabbit." Walt was devastated.
Starting over from scratch, Walt desperately needed to come up with a new character. The garage he was living in was infested with rats and mice. Instead of sulking in his misery, instead of turning bitter, instead of filing a lawsuit, Walt focused on what he had left - his gifts, talents and abilities - and his incredible imagination. Walt actually made a pet out of one of the mice and kept it in a cage on his desk. Drawing inspiration from his miserable surroundings, Walt created a cute little mouse character that he named "Mickey Mouse." And the rest, as they say, is history!
THREE CRITICAL CHOICES AT WORK
What made the difference? Walt Disney made the same three critical choices that heroes have made for thousands of years in order to turn tragedy into triumph.
HE CHOSE HIS FOCUS
First, Walt chose his focus. Instead of focusing on his bitterness and anger, instead of focusing on his miserable rat and mouse infested environment, he focused on the next most immediate steps he needed to take in order to survive. He chose to move forward. He chose to focus on what was in front of him, not what was behind him. He focused on the few resources he had left. He poured himself into his work and he started over.
HE CHOSE HIS BELIEFS
Second, Walt chose to believe. He could have decided his career as a cartoonist was over, and that he could never make it in Hollywood. He could have chosen to believe he could not compete against the "big boys" and disappeared into oblivion. After all, at that time, the only movies being made in Hollywood had real live actors, not cartoon characters. There was no full-length cartoon movie industry at that time, and no one knew whether there was even a viable market for full-length cartoon movies. Despite all this, Walt chose to believe, and he chose to keep believing every new day that the sun came up. Through this tenacious belief, and hard work, he single handedly created a whole new industry.
HE CHOSE HIS EXPECTATIONS
Third, Walt chose his expectations. He knew he could create cartoon characters that audiences would love because he had done it before. Failure was not an option. He expected to succeed, and this gave him the motivation to keep moving forward.
Remember, "they" may take away your office, your status, and your income. But they can't take away your determination to succeed, your inherent abilities, your intelligence or your creativity. These are the very things that have brought you all of your past successes. These gifts, talents and abilities haven't gone anywhere. Wherever you go, they are still with you!
LEFT FOR DEAD IN THE ANDES MOUNTAINS
In 1985, Joe Simpson broke his leg on his descent of a 20,000 foot mountain in the Peruvian Andes. Then after a second fall left him dangling in mid-air off a cliff, his partner, Simon Yates, cut the rope that tied them together. This rope was Simpson's last and only hope for survival. Simpson dropped into a long, narrow ice tube that went straight down. His body came to rest precariously on a narrow ice bridge between two much deeper vertical drops. He had two choices. He could either sit there until death slowly overtook his freezing body, or he could plunge into the dark unknown to meet death on his own terms. He had one ice screw left, which he banged into the wall of ice. Then he threaded his rope through it and somehow managed to tie a crude knot in the end of it. This became his anchor as he lowered his body into the deep, dark, icy unknown.
To his surprise, his body eventually came to rest on a flat surface of snow. Then he saw a thin ray of light shining from the opposite side of the cavern. There was a forty-five degree slope of ice leading up to where he could just barely see a pinpoint of daylight. This was the way out - if only he could reach it.
He bent over and dug a small foothold for each of his boots, which were equipped with crampons (metal claws) for climbing. Then he pounded his ice axe into the wall of ice above him and slowly lifted his bad leg, then his good leg into the footholds, while pulling his body up with the ice axe. Each time he put weight on his bad leg, searing pain exploded up and down his leg. He would scream and curse out loud. Then he would repeat the process.
It was at this moment that he made a critical decision. He chose to focus on the pattern rather than the pain. Simpson says, "The flares of pain became merged into the routine and I paid less attention to them, concentrating solely on the patterns." He was so intent on focusing on the pattern that he refused to even look up to the object of his climb for fear that it would remind him of the little progress he had made and how far he still had to go. He knew where he was going, but it was more important to focus on the pattern. The pattern was working - one inch at a time - but it was working. After what seemed like an eternity, he popped his head up through the snow to see a ring of spectacularly beautiful mountains and blue sky. He had made it. But now he had to figure out a way to get down the rest of the mountain with a broken leg.
Simpson was forced to experiment and find different patterns of behavior to determine the most efficient and least painful way to get down the 20,000 foot mountain. He tried walking, but fell repeatedly. Nevertheless, he tried to fall forward in the direction he knew he needed to go. When he could not stand, he crawled, then tried to stand and walk again. He walked, fell and crawled over and over again for several days and nights without food or water.
His focus made the difference between death and survival. He would pick a spot in the distance and focus on it. Then he would give himself a deadline by which he had to get to it. When he finally got there, he would pick out another spot in the distance and repeat the pattern. It was a slow, agonizing process and his body got weaker and weaker as he went. But, through the sheer force of his will and the voice inside his head that kept commanding his mangled body forward like a cruel drill sergeant, after several days, he finally got close enough to his campsite where his shouts could be heard.
What can we learn from Joe Simpson's epic tale of survival and Walt Disney's incredible comeback?
CHOOSE YOUR FOCUS
First, when you find yourself reeling from a shocking act of betrayal, make a conscious choice to focus on the immediate next steps needed for survival - rather than on your bitterness and anger. If you dwell on your anger it will consume all of your creative energy and brain cells - the same brain cells that you will need to come up with your next move.
Second, focus on the resources, skills, gifts, talents and friends you have left - even though they may be few.
Third, don't throw good money after bad. Don't pursue litigation unless you absolutely are being forced to do so. When you choose to litigate rather than recuperate, the only ones who get rich are the lawyers. Most lawyers joke that the winner in any lawsuit is the one who has lost the least amount of blood in the fight. History shows there are no real winners except the lawyers. Turn the energy generated by your anger into a new resolve to succeed against all odds. That's the best way to get even.
CHOOSE YOUR BELIEFS
Make a conscious choice to believe there is a way out. There is always a way out. You can survive this and even prosper on the other side of this tragedy. But first you have to make a very deliberate and conscious choice to believe it. Then you have to pursue it.
CHOOSE YOUR EXPECATIONS
Joe Simpson and Walt Disney both survived severe acts of betrayal because they expected to survive. They had their doubts at first, but with each slow and deliberate step forward came another glimmer of hope. They gave themselves hope by getting up and moving forward after each temporary setback. If you just sit there and wallow in your misery, history will record that this setback was your final resting place. If you get up and keep moving forward, history will record that it was only a temporary setback.
If you expect to survive, your brain cells will suddenly awaken with excitement. They will stand at attention and await your orders. They will find a way because they have been ordered to find a way. Expect to prosper again one day. Expect to rise from the ashes of this tragedy. Create a self-fulfilling prophecy, and then bring it to pass. You can choose to write the final chapter if you want to, but you have to choose to want to.
GET ON THE HERO'S PATH
Heroes throughout history, like Walt Disney and Joe Simpson, have created a well-worn path for us to follow by their examples. It is up to us to choose to follow their footsteps. This is the first and most important choice you can make. Will you wander blindly in your bitterness, depression and anger, or will you choose to follow the heroes' path?
"Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness." — Confucius
If you choose to follow the hero's path, remember, the three most critical choices you can make today - right now - this very moment are: (1) what to focus on; (2) what to believe; and (3) what to expect - from this point forward. Take conscious control of your focus, your beliefs and your expectations and you can determine the final impact of this tragedy on the rest of your life. Get on the hero's path and eventually you will go places where only heroes have trod.
About the Author
Learn the principles that heroes have been using to turn tragedy into triumph for thousands of years. Dan Castro is an attorney who spent nine years studying the patterns of people whose critical choices turned them into heroes. Download the first chapter free at: http://mycriticalchoices.com
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