I came to Harlingen to attend three functions at the Marine Military Academy:

1. A Board of Trustees meeting, because I’m hoping to serve as an Advisor;
2. The General H.M. Smith Dinner, honoring those individuals who have donated large sums to the school;
3. The Iwo Jima memorial parade, commemorating the WWII battle for Iwo Jima and honoring those who served there.

As a side benefit, or perhaps the side benefit was the primary reason I attended, I got to visit with some old friends with whom I attended school, and some whom I’ve met since leaving school.  In addition to the staff and faculty, Board members, donors, parents, and cadets who attended, there were eight Alumni.

Top row, from left

• Lt. Col. Timothy A. Herndon, USMC, who graduated in 1979.  Tim is a helicopter pilot and Commanding Officer of a helicopter training squadron.  He recently was selected for promotion to Colonel.  Tim was my roommate in 1975, and has remained a very good friend for over 30 years.
• Next is me, Jim Mischel.  I graduated in 1980.  I’m in pretty rare company with this group, but I’m easily the best looking of the lot, don’t you think?
• Anthony J. McIntyre graduated in 1975.  Tony owns an insurance company and currently serves as Chairman of the MMA Board of Trustees.
• Craig Matteson also graduated in 1979, and has been a friend for 30+ years.  He owns a business in Chicago and serves on the Board of Trustees.  Craig is the one who helped me turn my little bike ride into a scholarship fundraiser.

Bottom row, from left

• Kuni Beasley graduated in 1972 and served in the U.S. Army as an artillery officer.  Kuni holds several Ph.D. degrees and is the founder of Gateway Preparatory School.  Debra and I were privileged to attend his wedding in December.
• Bill Fanning, another 1979 graduate, is the owner of Pilot Insurance Center.  I didn’t know Bill very well when we were attending school, but Debra and I have come to enjoy visiting with Bill and his wife Tish.
• Mike Forrester, a 1972 graduate, is an attorney in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and is a Lt. Col. in the Marine Corps Reserve.  He recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq.
• Staff Seargeant Hood graduated from MMA in 1993.  He is currently in the Marine Corps Reserve and serves on the staff of the Marine Military Academy as an assistant Drill Instructor.  I think he also was in Iraq recently.

This is just a small selection of the great guys who have graduated from MMA over the years.  I count myself fortunate to be associated with these men.

The staff at the Marine Military Academy paid me a great compliment by asking me to speak at the graduation dinner and present a few awards to the graduating cadets.  In a classic case of misjudging my audience, I prepared a 10-minute mostly serious speech–the kind of stuffy thing that you’ve come to expect from graduation ceremonies.  But after talking to a couple of people at the school this afternoon, I realized that what I presented would not have been well received.  The graduation dinner is supposed to be a lighthearted affair, and comments should be short.  I went back to the hotel and re-worked my presentation, cutting it in half and lightening it up.

By all indications, my talk was a hit.  I kept the comments short and even got some genuine laughs at my jokes about life at the school.  Graduating cadets and parents alike thanked me after the dinner; for the brevity and for the more serious remarks I made.  I’m not ready to start a business as a motivational speaker, but I think I have the confidence now to speak intelligently to a group of high school students.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope to be invited to speak again to the cadets at some point.

We were walking from the Mess Hall to the rifle range yesterday after lunch with a group of other alumni and their wives.  One of the alumni was telling his wife that he wanted to make a small donation to the school and she replied “I don’t want to support violence.”  The ensuing discussion revealed that she had a very odd view of the military in general and the Marine Military Academy in particular.  The most revealing comment was “You can call it what you like, but I know what it really is.  They’re training kids to be violent.”  I exercised the better part of valor and didn’t engage further.  But it got me to thinking.

Perhaps the most important thing she got wrong was the role of the military training at the school.  Yes, the school is built on the traditions of the United States Marine Corps and operated in large parts by retired Marine Corps officers and Drill Instructors.  But the “military training” focuses mostly on decorum, self-discipline, respect for authority, timeliness, and other such values that have traditionally been held in high regard by the Armed Services.  Cadets learn to march, to salute cadet officers and staff, to say “Yes, sir” and “No, sir”, and to treat others with dignity and respect.  Those customs form the structure that’s required in order to accomplish the real work of the school:  to prepare future leaders for their next steps in life.  In this case, those next steps are going to college and making their way in the big bad world.

The cadets are of course exposed to violence of some sort or another.  Both boxing and judo are offered as after school activities.  But those sports, especially judo, teach the measured use of violence in appropriate situations.  They teach a little bit about military tactics to those cadets who choose to play paintball, but that’s not really part of the standard training.  In any case, cadets aren’t exposed to anywhere near the violence that they would be exposed to in public schools, and since they almost never get to watch television, they’re probably way behind their peers when it comes to violent behavior.  Yes, fisticuffs occur.  When I was at the school the Drill Instructors had a very effective way to handle that.  They’d take the whole company to the boxing gym, suit the combatants up in the appropriate gear, and let them have at it with everybody watching.  I don’t know if that still occurs, but I think it’s the most reasonable way to handle it.

I flew to Harlingen, Texas yesterday for the H.M. Smith Memorial Dinner at the Marine Military Academy.  The H.M. Smith Foundation was created as a means of expressing the official gratitude of the Academy for extraordinary support given toward its growth and development.  H.M. Smith Fellows are those who have donated $100,000.00 or more to the school.  No, I’m not one of them.  I go to the dinner to honor those who are and also to visit with old friends.  General Holland McTyeire (“Howling Mad”) Smith was one of the most famous of the United States commanders in the Pacific during World War II, and a great benefactor of the Marine Military Academy.

The Guest of Honor at last night’s dinner was Lt. General James T. Conway, Commanding General of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.  Yes, the Marines that took Baghdad.  He gave quite a moving speech during the dinner last night, and had some great stories to tell during the reception later that evening.  He also served as reviewing officer for the parade this morning, honoring the H.M. Smith Fellows and all veterans of the Iwo Jima battle.  I was surprised to see how many Iwo Jima veterans (remember, that was 59 years ago) visit the Lower Rio Grande Valley in the winter.  There must have been 40 or 50 of them at the parade.