Charlie Rose

paula2011  09/07/2011 09:05 AM Report

Actually I decided to check into this interview and join also Charlie Rose online because of this awesome interview! Thank you Eric Greitens for your courage and your humanitarian Spirit!

normanm  09/05/2011 11:57 AM Report

I am amazed and edified by Eric Greiten's sharing on "The Heart and the Fist". I too have come to recognize that great pain unlocks a precious opportunity to give to others. I look foreword to reading his book and hearing more about him in the future.

Charlie, thank-you for this fine Labor Day offering! Norman H. Miner, Jr.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  06/02/2011 02:35 AM Report

Still having problems: Navy (water) Seal (water), so then how did this group get the call and not the Army Rangers or Delta Force or somebody with land in their name?

NeilMacCallister  06/01/2011 04:31 PM Report

Thank you, John, for your well-reasoned words.

But Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, ..We are all respectful toward, and proud for, the "The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier".

I know you agree, ..that all of the He/She's there, deserve that place of honor.

They gave their last "full measure", never expecting fame.

But we do remember them.

Let's make sure we remember them for who they were!

JohnGelles  05/31/2011 04:38 PM Report

It is truly disturbing to experience language changes without knowing a good reason therefor.

Perhaps soldiers is more army -- and sailors an marines wanted the change.

Neil and I are not natural nit-pickers. But once in a while what nits are picked piques my interest. And maybe his.

NeilMacCallister  05/31/2011 04:10 AM Report

Veteran Greitens' segment here comes on Memorial Day weekend, 2011.

Over on the radio, there were announcements of the honors being delivered at the now-described "Tomb of the Unknowns" at Arlington National Cemetery.

***

Why can't Americans still say "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier"?

The tomb guards' badges read: "Guard, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier".

The guards' creed vows, "This soldier will in honored glory rest."

Former-guards join the "Society of the Honor Guard, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier"

Yet the radio today announced that our President was laying a wreath at the "Tomb of the Unknowns".

The Unknown whats??? ..Can't we just say it?? .."Soldiers"!!!

Every other country with these memorial military cenotaphs say what these people were, 'soldiers' ..why can't we?

The tomb itself reads: "An American Soldier Known But To God"

We may not know their names, but we do know they were soldiers.

We should not be so afraid to fully express the truth.

If we pretend war does not exist, it will only return sooner.

Those honored unknown were brave, and they made brave choices.

Our honored "unknowns" in that tomb were soldiers!

JohnGelles  05/30/2011 05:21 PM Report

Thank you, Charlie, for sharing with us your conversation with Eric Greitens, former U.S. Navy SEAL and author of the book "The Heart and the Fist".

We (most of us) have not read the book; but we we all have one heart and two fists. And we have the opportunity to put others before ourselves; and, to some degree, we become worthy of the life Navy Seals and other American fighters make possible -- when THEY do the fighting and dieing to allow US to be free in a world where so many are not.

Eric said a lot about education, courage, and the obligation this nation has to this generation of fighters -- many of whom deserve far more effort on our part (than we are expending) to repay them for the wounds they suffered

protecting us.

I found all his words perfect in this context. I especially liked his own expression of his own debt to the Oxford warriors he saw honored there for service in war before he was born.

We in today's democracies everywhere owe these debts on birth -- and repay them in our own life and death, if some of Eric's thoughts are mirrored in these two experiences of ours.

Tom Brokaw saw this and we have him to thank as well.

Eric Greitens may go on to be celebrated as writer and politician -- or as the founder of the organization he started now fighting for veterans rights.

Others in the nation and in this audience, like myself, may be far less celebrated in like than Eric. But it is people like us, the great majority, who cannot go to Oxford or become Navy Seals, people like him chose to serve.

We will all have unique opinions of his expressed opinions. That is the fact.

You must be the judge of this asymmetry: are we entitled to find fault with his example and advice? What if there is no fault with them? What if we own all the faults and he owns none?

REMant  05/30/2011 10:54 AM Report

Not to appear overly cynical, but I found this underwhelming, and am left wondering whether he was also an Eagle Scout. While I agree that there are many reasons why getting ppl to step outside of themselves will help group cohesion, it is not always in their best interest, for instance, in a conversion such as Patti Hearst's, and the military has always used this tactic in training - it's the reason for the shaved heads, etc - and also the avg fraternity. But if you really want to develop strong individuals and real courage, you must allow them to accept the idea on their own terms, and rather than running a T-group, it must be more like an old-fashioned experience of grace. This may be what he has in mind - he majored in philosophy and politics and is apparently one of the Missouri Germans - but it did not come out here, and I didn't see evidence of it. The book, his second, seems to be rather like one of those things ppl write these days before running for office. And it is reminiscent of that guy who claimed to have fallen of K2 or whatever, and went around building schools where no one wanted them, or Oprah's substance abuser and God knows how many others.

Not mentioned, he is a fellow at the Univ. of Missouri School of Public Affairs, and now a Lieutenant Commander in the Naval Reserve. He may have enlisted after 9/11, but he did it on his own terms. His academic specialty at Oxford was, peculiarly, humanitarian assistance, which is no doubt what recommended him to someone like Brokaw, (whom I suspect still runs NBC News), as much as having seemed like a reincarnation of a mythological character. I don't buy the idea, esp if Brokaw recommends it, that ppl should be, shall we say, "compassionate warriors." That idea is frankly what I've so often ridiculed. As a White House fellow, Greitens worked on the Katrina cleanup and has been involved with disabled vets, the latter having earned him well-deserved commendation, and hopefully, but doubtfully, some real support. Americans, esp the national media, like to talk about such heroism, but only to make themselves feel good, not to actually accomplish anything. When a hometown paper runs a picture of several middle-aged ladies who've held a bake sale to benefit XYZ, it's far different, from the sort of self-promotion seen in People Magazine. Veterans have always had trouble readjusting because our market society runs on a far different ethos than that of service, but it should also be observed that building a better mousetrap is also useful, and as the Medal of Honor recipient on 60 Mins this week amply illustrated, media attention only makes the discrepancy more obvious.

Not that the military, itself, is immune. In Vietnam they gave BSM's to virtually every troop who exposed himself to enemy fire, particularly if he didn't have to, and more to officers (there being a sliding scale for stuff like that - you won't see a general being given a common commendation medal). Rather like creating bank vice-presidents, or giving prizes for participation, altho they have different ones for that, and also one for not getting into trouble. Since then they've created many more. They don't yet, however, give medals out for questioning why we are fighting, and I doubt sincerely whether any soldier fights to collect them.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  05/30/2011 04:10 AM Report

So then "love your neighbor" makes you a better warrior and helps put you in the top 10% of all warriors?

After all a universal principal is a universal principal no matter the irony.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  05/30/2011 03:56 AM Report

From "Full Metal Jacket" about the duality of man which our man Eric personifies:

Pogue Colonel: Marine, what is that button on your body armor?

Private Joker: A peace symbol, sir.

Pogue Colonel: Where'd you get it?

Private Joker: I don't remember, sir.

Pogue Colonel: What is that you've got written on your helmet?

Private Joker: "Born to Kill", sir.

Pogue Colonel: You write "Born to Kill" on your helmet and you wear a peace button. What's that supposed to be, some kind of sick joke?

Private Joker: No, sir.

Pogue Colonel: You'd better get your head and your a-s wired together, or I will take a giant sh-t on you.

Private Joker: Yes, sir.

Pogue Colonel: Now answer my question or you'll be standing tall before the man.

Private Joker: I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man, sir.

Pogue Colonel: The what?

Private Joker: The duality of man. The Jungian thing, sir.

Pogue Colonel: Whose side are you on, son?

Private Joker: Our side, sir.

Pogue Colonel: Don't you love your country?

Private Joker: Yes, sir.

Pogue Colonel: Then how about getting with the program? Why don't you jump on the team and come on in for the big win?

Private Joker: Yes, sir.

Pogue Colonel: Son, all I've ever asked of my marines is that they obey my orders as they would the word of God. We are here to help the Vietnamese, because inside every gook there is an American trying to get out. It's a hardball world, son. We've gotta keep our heads until this peace craze blows over.

Private Joker: Aye-aye, sir.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  05/30/2011 12:33 AM Report

Remarkable human being-both Oxford and a Navy Seal. I also saw him on C-SPAN and The Colbert Report.

Here is the question: Seal Team Six was used as an assassin squad (Discovery Channel did a great simulation). They killed all the men and wounded one of the women. That is the fist.

Would the heart be to instead have Seal Team Six bring him back alive and put him on trial facing a jury of Muslims? (Michael Moore argues the trial; I added the jury of Muslims.)

robdverity  05/28/2011 04:56 PM Report

Mixed emotions re this guy. Unemployed, young mercenaries, adrift in society signing up to go kill people for board and room is one thing; for a college grad to do it is another. Values seem skewed to me. Doing it more efficiently seems to skewer even further.

CarolJ  05/28/2011 03:30 PM Report

All 3 conversations were excellent, plus I like it when the Friday night program appears on the website on Saturday or Sunday.