I enlisted in the United States Army as a private during the Korean War. After working my way up to corporal I attended Infantry Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia and was commissioned a second lieutenant. Six months later I married my childhood sweetheart, Charlene. We had met one spring day when she was ten and I was thirteen. By the end of the summer I had proposed marriage and she had accepted! Four days after she graduated from high school we were married.

My father was a steel worker; her father was a coal miner. Both families were part European, part African and part Native American. Growing up both of us felt the sting of racism, classism and elitism. Yet, with Charlene at my side, I rose to the rank of Major General in the United States Army and later worked for the Carter, Reagan and the first Bush Administration.

Along the way we learned many things. We learned that women bear a heavy burden when they are married to high-powered spouses climbing the ladders of executive careers. If Charlene had not been successful meeting the many expectations placed upon her because she was married to me, I could not have succeeded. In those days the institution of the military required that officer’s wives perform designated duties. How well or poorly the wife performed directly impacted on the success of the officer’s career.

So Charlene faced daunting social pressures while living in foreign lands, meeting world leaders and making visits to the White House. Serving as my First Lady at a number of military installations and units, she prayed her way through the fears and sometimes, the depression, related to the stress of her responsibilities. Sadly she also faced, with me, grief over the loss of a child. (Charlene and I are both published authors. Her book, The General’s Lady, recounts in detail the challenges of being the wife of a successful Army officer. My book is From Private to General).

Another lesson we learned is that there are challenges for every person whether they were raised with wealth or without means. If you were blessed by being born to a rich or important family, you should thank God for it. But if you wish to live a worthwhile life, you shouldn’t rest on your family’s money or social standing. Work hard and achieve even more than others in your family, and don’t limit your efforts to academia or business. Work in public service as well.

If you were born to a poor family, you should strive to be the person in the family that future generations can point to with pride. You should strive to reach levels of importance and accomplishment that your ancestors never dreamed possible.

Next, we learned that you should always stay true to your beliefs and values. How can young people today develop appropriate beliefs and value systems when there is so much confusion and conflicting information as to what is proper? For most of us, foundational beliefs and values are developed by listening to our parents and by being a part of a community of faith. But what if home life is such that you don’t learn to properly value things that are important, or if your family is not affiliated with a community of faith? Then hopefully you will learn values and basic common sense from your schoolteachers and school administrators, or from membership in organizations like the Boy or Girl Scouts.           

We have met young people who, even without help and guidance, have been able to develop a sense of enduring values and beliefs on their own simply by studying the lives and writings of outstanding men and women of history: people like President George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington Carver, Ralph Bunche, Mother Theresa, or Golda Meier … there is an endless list.           

Consider the life of Sir Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of Great Britain during WWII. It is acknowledged far and wide that his individual contributions played a pivotal role in saving his country and the Western world from NAZI domination. Had he not encouraged the timid hearts of the people of England, the British might now be speaking German.          

Just about everyone remembers Churchill’s famous words delivered to students at his old school of Harrow: “Never give in.” But most people stop quoting there and never go on to finish the rest of the sentence: “never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.” That is another lesson Charlene and I have learned. We have learned the importance of honor and good sense and never to be so open minded that all of our values and common sense run out.           

We also learned that the lost people of our generation -- the homeless, drug addicts, alcoholics and those who kill others without emotion or remorse -- are unable to dream. They cannot imagine what it’s like to be anything other than where and what they are at a given instant in time. That’s why merely sharing advice or a dream with them is not enough. Somewhere deep down inside them must be imparted an ability and desire to visualize hope, to rise above habit, above accident of birth and the normal adversities of life.

You may be a thug, prostitute or drug dealer, but in America it is possible for you to overcome such circumstances and become an entrepreneur, a college professor, a doctor, or a U.S. Senator. The American dream is available to all. There is hope for those who accept the dream in the core of their being. It won’t be easy; but by facing life with hope and hard work, success can be yours.           

Most importantly, we have learned that to be successful in life you must play the hand you are dealt. All Americans are born politically equal, but mentally and physically different. The requirement is to succeed in spite of the cards dealt you and the limitations and obstacles you are born with or that are placed in your way.  We must understand the importance of family, friends, and community to encourage and support us along the way.  In addition to our own hard work, let us recognize that ultimately each person’s success is a result of a lot of help.           

Charlene and I love the United States of America and we believe in it and its goodness. For the most part our lives have been spent in service to our country and to our fellow man. Rightly or wrongly we believe that the principles upon which America was founded are a shining example for all of mankind. And we firmly believe that every American citizen should do all in their power to protect, support and defend this great nation, its freedoms and its democratic principles.