Once an Eagle
Rate it:
Open Preview
Started reading May 18, 2020
0%
Flag icon
Lieutenant General Sidney B. Berry and Colonel Zane E. Finkelstein, both U.S. Army, Retired, for their tireless and selfless work to help keep this incredible novel in print for future generations.
Chris Townsend
Now we know who to blame
0%
Flag icon
“So in the Libyan fable it is told That once an eagle, stricken with a dart, Said, when he saw the fashion of the shaft, ‘With our own feathers, not by others’ hands, Are we now smitten.’” —AESCHYLUS
Chris Townsend
eagle thinks it has been taken down by its own kind or perhaps that only an eagle can kill an eagle?
0%
Flag icon
Sam Damon, has become the iconic symbol of the qualities a great leader should possess. He leads by example and represents the core values of what we strive for in our leaders.
0%
Flag icon
Courtney Massengale, has become the symbol of a self-serving careerist who will do anything to advance his standing.
Chris Townsend
well they've already set up the good guy and bad guy without even letting the reader read a page.
0%
Flag icon
it is a career-killer for an officer to be labeled a Courtney Massengale.
Chris Townsend
is it though? never heard this in 24 years. blue falcon sure, back stabber yup, CM not in the lexicon since '96
0%
Flag icon
The true testament to the success of a book like Once an Eagle is its resilience.
Chris Townsend
or its perpetuation from leader to leader on reading lists. I've never really trusted reading lists for the sole fact that so many leaders I've met are so poorly read and even more poorly written that iI have a hard time believing that most read even one of the books on the list. they just recycle the lists of other generals who themselves may not have read the book
0%
Flag icon
the gold standard for what a great writer can accomplish.
Chris Townsend
heady praise
0%
Flag icon
1976 television miniseries
Chris Townsend
try to find and watch after i read
1%
Flag icon
from personal experience as a Marine during World War II.
Chris Townsend
definitely puts a perspective on the matter but maybe not an insider perspective of Army officer culture.
1%
Flag icon
a state of great turmoil, at the core of which was an angry awareness of war as the most vicious and fraudulent self-deception man had ever devised.”
Chris Townsend
brings the question of whether war is ever "necessary" should America have accepted without reproach Japan's attacks or Germany's increasing threat to our allies in Europe? I would be curious to know Myrer's personal Casus Belli. What would justify the"vicious and fraudulent self-deception"
1%
Flag icon
“the whole challenge of life [is] to act with honor and hope and generosity.… You can’t help when or what you were born, you may not be able to help how you die; but you can—and you should—try to pass the days between as a good man.”
Chris Townsend
as any phiosopher worth their salt would advise
1%
Flag icon
gain ‘internal rewards’ for selfless service instead of public acclamation, which was then rare to nonexistent.
Chris Townsend
harsh criticism of the Army or society at large hard to say to which the writer refers.
1%
Flag icon
The novel’s message was: service is its own reward.
Chris Townsend
we shall see if that assessment holds up
1%
Flag icon
a former Marine enlisted man,
Chris Townsend
my perception of officers when I was enlisted was totally different from now as an officer commissioned 16 years ago. will be interseted to see if Myrer's characterizations fit more with my enlisted imagination or my officer reality.
1%
Flag icon
anti-war book.
1%
Flag icon
The Advance Course in each of the Army’s branch schools represents the bachelor’s degree, the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth the master’s degree, and the War Colleges the Ph.D.
Chris Townsend
interstingly hyperbolic take on officer education
1%
Flag icon
The object of the exercise is to move future leaders from cocksure ignorance to wise uncertainty.
Chris Townsend
slightly more realistic assessment
1%
Flag icon
A charismatic personality, while very useful, is not at all a necessary attribute.
Chris Townsend
I would argue that some level of charisma is necessary. we are a civilian-run institution, human institutions. without charisma we run the risk of engendering resistance to our ideas based solely on coarse nature or indifference to the feelings of others.
1%
Flag icon
but worship the ashes.
Chris Townsend
we worship the ashes? im not sure what that means
1%
Flag icon
And General Robert E. Lee wrote:
Chris Townsend
is it still coo to quote confederate generals
1%
Flag icon
The Nation’s ability to remain free and at peace depends in no small measure on whether we will continue to inspire our youth to serve.
Chris Townsend
self-congratulatory highlight don't @ me