The Best Leader I Knew from WWII
Today is the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. This piece is about the most impressive leader that I personally knew who fought in that conflict. By the time I met him, he was in his 90s, and as with most men his age, he had become quite frail. Even so, his eyes still twinkled with interest and enthusiasm. When he spoke, I could not help but listen intently. He was one of the most interesting and articulate people I had ever encountered. His mind was still razor sharp. I was actually surprised to learn that he was a four-star general and had commanded all American Air Forces in the Pacific in the last years of his career. There was not a particle of pretense about him.
The longer I knew him, the more fascinating his story became. He was on the staff of the Chief of Staff of the Army Air Corps. He participated in the planning for D-day. He showed me a picture of Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt and pointed himself out in the small group around them. He was young. He had graduated from West Point just over a decade before. He was a rising star. He had knowledge of extensive secret plans. It would have been easy for him to avoid combat that might place him at high risk of capture. But that was not his style.
He told me about a mission to bomb a military target in Austria. He was in the lead bomber. As they approached the target, he noticed the flak (anti-aircraft shells) was exploding at about the right height. Sensing the danger, he reached down and clipped his parachute to his belt. There were not enough of the usual type to go around. The bomb run was especially dangerous because they had to fly a straight course so they could hit the target. Suddenly, there was a huge explosion. He was wounded and there was blood in his eyes. He could feel the air rushing by him and he thought there was a huge hole in the plane. He wiped the blood out of his eyes with his sleeve and was shocked to find himself flying through the air, still attached to his seat by his seatbelt. The back of the pilot’s seat was armored, which was the only reason he survived. Another shell burst nearby, and he was wounded again. Meanwhile he noticed the wreckage of the bomber was above him. He had heard that you could steer yourself in a fall if you spread your arms and legs, so he managed to clear the wreckage and safely deploy his parachute. Meanwhile, he noticed both the nose and tail gunners extracting themselves from the wreckage. They were the only three of the ten-man crew who survived.
When he landed in a cow pasture, it was raining with high winds. He was badly wounded, and he was unable to help himself. The wind pulled him across the field until he got hung up in a fence and the Germans captured him. We discussed these events a couple of times and there was only one topic that brought out emotion in him. There was a wounded German airman who was a patient in the same hospital. The general said the German took an interest in him and made sure that he got what he needed. He was convinced that his enemy’s care and concern were the only reason he survived.
The hardest part was yet to come. When his plane was shot down, the shell hit the bomber squarely between the wings and the plane exploded. None of the planes behind saw any parachutes and the crew was written off as killed in action. That was reported to the families. By the time the general returned, his wife had remarried. He had lost most of his personal life in the service of his country. His sacrifice on our behalf was immense. It continued after he personally lost everything. When he retired, he returned to the modest frame house his parents had built in Ridgeland, South Carolina. He was a public servant in the highest sense of the word.
So, how does this apply to medicine? General Smart had a keen sense of duty. He was a leader’s leader. He never asked his men to do one thing he would not do himself. He led from the front, and he paid the price. Medical leaders today know about optimal medical treatment (OMT), or they should know. It is the new standard of care spelled out in cardiology guidelines. It has been around for at least 13 years and widely written about in prestigious medical journals. It is far more effective than the care that most Americans receive. It improves health and saves money at the same time. The most respected experts in science have called for extensive system redesign in American healthcare to bring this benefit to our patients consistently—and yet very little has changed. Consequently, thousands of Americans have died or become disabled. Why? Precisely because OMT for cardiovascular and related diseases is less expensive and our institutions would make less money if every American had access to those more effective treatments. Tactics lag technology because they threaten the power and money of the established order. Dozens of us are working hard to bring you the benefit of OMT. It is time to regain a sense of professional duty. Won’t you join us? wbestermann@congruityhealth.com