Synthesis Essay : Louis Zamperini

In the words of Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale, USN, “integrity consists of knowing one’s situation through education and thus understanding the limit of your responsibility.” Stockdale, a former Vietnam P.O.W., writes the importance of integrity in “The World of Epictetus.” In September of 1965, Commander Stockdale ejected from his plane only to be captured by the Vietcong during the Vietnam War. In eight years of captivity, the Northern Vietnamese tortured and isolated Stockdale; and in that time, he observed the actions of his men. He witnessed honorable, high-ranking officers cave into their oppressors, while common soldiers refuted any luxuries offered. Stockdale did not solely witness actions, but integrity; how a man acts when

Although Theodore Roosevelt led by using Intellectual Courage, he held another great attribute of Ethical Leadership. He was the epitome of an Ethical Leader portraying one of our own Air Force Core Values of Service Before Self which is defined as the ability to have professional duties take precedence over personal desires (BCEE,

A leader unwilling to sacrifice individual goals for the good of the unit cannot convince other unit members to do so. The mission suffers with potentially devastating effects. While personal goals often coincide with Army goals, there is no room for personal agendas at the expense of the institution or the American people. It is a standard in the hierarchy of military customs and courtesies that the leader must display to his subordinates that he is willing to put in extra effort, sacrifice personal time, and show initiative and motivation in order to achieve the same from his Soldiers.

Throughout military history, there have been many leaders that can be considered either visionary or ethical. This paper will discuss how BG Robin Olds was a visionary leader, but not a very ethical leader. From the beginning of his career, he was a visionary in aerial combat tactics and a true believer of leading from the front. His vision of aerial combat was beyond his years, but often fell upon deaf ears due to his flamboyant nature. He never hesitated to say exactly what was on his mind, which is why his actions could be considered unethical. But, his men loved him, and would follow him to hell and back. First, this paper will discuss BG Olds’ visionary leadership abilities he displayed the Viet Nam

Personal responsibility, self sufficiency and citizen leader ship are boldly highlighted and brought to life in this work. Wes Moore shows how all these traits play into life and where you can end up.

Former major league baseball player Tommy Lasorda once said, “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” In Laura Hillenbrand’s nonfiction book Unbroken, Louie Zamperini demonstrates this quote with his determination to survive the challenges he faced before, during, and after the war. This determination helped Louie face and overcome the challenges presented to him during the war.

As the Canadian social democratic politician and Baptist minister, Tommy Douglas once said, “Man can now fly in the air like a bird, swim under the ocean like a fish, he can burrow into the ground like a mole. Now if only he could walk the earth like a man, this would be paradise.” In the book Unbroken, written by Laura Hillenbrand, defying the many odds against him, Louis Zamperini showed us that with being faithful, you can conquer your problems. Some of the many struggles Zamperini had to go through, included pushing to become a better person, surviving a plane crash resulting in 42 days stranded out at sea, becoming a POW for two years, and coming home to find that not only his past haunts him, but his present. As a teenager, Zamperini

Zamperini won watches and other valuable trinkets yet never found the need to keep all of them, so he gave them away to random strangers and fans. Louis , also treated his friends like family: “In the evenings,Louis , Jordan,and their teammates wedged into Louie’s 31 Ford and drove to Torrance for Louie’s Zamperini’s spaghetti,considering themselves so close to family that Sylvia once found a high jumper on her bed”(40). Throughout Louis’s 47 day meander across the pacific ocean he and the other men often got hopeless and stir crazy,Louie was often the glue that stuck the men to their sanity.Zamperini in one case had thought “ Louie was determined that no matter what happened to their bodies, their minds would stay under their control”(152). Louie showed bounteous examples of his consideration towards other throughout his heroic

Many people have to go through difficult times, but many do not have to face what Louie Zamperini faced. Louie Zamperini was an Olympic athlete in WWII. While on a bombing run, he crashed in the Pacific Ocean and was stranded for 47 days at sea. He was captured, beaten, and torchered by the Japanese for two years. In Laura Hillenbrand’s book, Unbroken, Louie Zamperini showed rebelliousness and resistance while at the harsh POW camps, but uses these traits to survive the Japanese’s mind games and beatings.

In Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand we plunge in to the life and battles of Louie Zamperini’s life. In his voyage through childhood, adolescence, soldier life, World War II, and his later years we see many traits of his identity. His friendships, his competitiveness, his resourcefulness, his honesty etc.… All of these great characteristics, but the ones that resonates with me the most and makes me admire him are his determination and with that his persistence. That determination that helped him continue and power through many hardships, this is what truly makes him admirable in my eyes. Through Hillenbrand’s writing this trait is well developed.

The leadership of General George S. Patton can be viewed as an example of transactional leadership. This type of leadership makes followers of an “organization achieve objectives through rewards and punishment”. This can be shown in the scene in Patton where he is meeting his new soldiers for the first time. As he is driving through the streets of North Africa, he sees his fellow soldiers are poorly dressed and not all in uniform. Soldiers had just finished a

Zamperini remained diligent, and while everything around him shattered, he stood tall, remaining unbroken. As a seemingly accustomed man that was transformed into a hero, this story of a gold-hearted veteran whose persevering spirit lead him home will inspire people for years to

In discussion forum 9, leaders are challenged through situations of crisis and are given ways to confront those challenges which allows them to overcome setbacks and face adversity. In the book “Resilient Leaders”, written by Major General Robert Dees, he provides leaders with his personal experiences of the battlefront and home front and what he had to do in order to cope as well as overcome each situation he was placed in. Major General Dees discusses his foundational ideas on leadership in Chapters one and two. The three concepts that our group decided on are Selfless Service, Character and Risk Management.

Numerous books and articles happen to be discussed leaders, who made choices that performed significant effects on the country and also the world. Leaders in the military, business community and sports have performed crucial impacts in route we live our way of life. Their legacy’s survive in giving others the inspiring and inspirational drive to get great leaders.

General Powell highlights 18 lessons learned in leadership that are applied to successful companies, and how they are applied to leadership in his presentation to the Outreach Program, and the Sears Corporate Headquarters. These approaches can be applied not only in business but life in general. I will highlight three of the lessons that have impacted my career in the military