The American Spectator: "Gen. Mattis regularly showed up to speak with us. He would tell us colorful stories, offer tough-minded advice and counsel, and eagerly solicit our thoughts and questions. We loved him because we knew he loved us.
And Gen. Mattis didn't just talk the talk; he walked the walk. He led from the front. Indeed, on at least one occasion that I know of, the General was bloodied from a firefight or improvised explosive device while out on patrol with junior, enlisted Marines one-third his age. That's what makes Gen. Mattis such a great warrior: He truly respects and cares for his Marines.
'Guardiano,' he told me, 'I don't give a damn about the officers. If they don't like what they're doing, they can get on a plane and leave the Corps -- go back where they came from. But I do care deeply about those 18- and 19-year-old Lance Corporals out on the frontlines.' The General was telling me that, as an officer, I better be concerned with helping younger, junior Marines, not advancing my own career.
That's why all the liberal talk about Mattis being some sort of 'psychopathic killer' is so ludicrous. Nor is he, as the conservative talk-show set would have it, an inhumane 'fighting machine.' Psychopathic killers don't care for their men; and machines don't exhibit compassion for a liberated but frightened people.
Yet, I am absolutely convinced that whenever a Marine died or bled, a part of Gen. Mattis died and bled, too. And whenever an innocent Iraqi was intimidated, beaten or shot, Gen. Mattis was incensed and outraged. But because of our modern-day cultural depravity, we lack the basic vocabulary necessary to identify and understand, let alone appreciate and celebrate, warriors like Gen. Mattis.The American Spectator read
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