HBO’s WWII miniseries “Band of Brothers” is one of the best miniseries of all time. It’s the story of one of the paratrooper companies of the 506th Infantry Regiment that made the invasion of Normandy (D-Day), told in the perspective of several of its members and leaders, one of them being Richard “Dick” Winters.
Winters is first seen as 2nd Lt in the miniseries, under the orders of 1st Lt Herbert Sobel (who makes Captain in the very first episide, before D-Day). Winters is respected by the entire company (and even the other companies of the batallion), whereas Sobel authority is largely questioned. Due to reasons not relevant to this entry (and avoiding spoilers as well), Captain Sobel is transferred from the company and with a few exceptions, is not seen again until the end of the series. At that point, he is still a Captain, however Winters is now a Major and outranks him, which is quite amazing considering he was below Sobel at the beginning of the series. In one of the final and most memorable scenes of Band of Brothers, Sobel and Winters coincidentally meet at a German field. By this time, Sobel is clearly resentful of Winters, and his resent is even bigger when he sees Winters’ golden oak leaves. Sobel walks by Winters and instead of saluting him, he simply says “Major Winters”, which is known as an offense to a superior officer. Winters knows Sobel is resentful of him, but he also knows respect of authority goes beyond feelings towards the person, and what he does next is nothing short of amazing:
Winters couldn’t be more right: you salute (hence respect) the rank, not the man. This rules applies in several situations and contexts, including the Chain of Command of the United States Executive Government.
The reason why I bring this up is because it was brought to my attention today, an incident that occurred in the Press room of the White House, where a reporter stood up and asked President Trump to give him the right to ask a question. Trump quickly dismissed him and gave the right to speak to another reporter. The reporter -still standing and with no right to speak- insisted having the right to a question and proceeded to make several statements I am assuming he wanted to inquire about. Trump then ordered the security personal to remove the reporter from the room.
No matter how much against people can be about Trump being our President, I can’t condone the behavior of the reporter who wants and demands to ask a question. Like it or not, Trump is the President of the United States, and like it or not, people have to respect the rank (even if they do not respect the man). If the President doesn’t give you permission to speak, you cannot keep talking at him, because that is more disrespecful and doesn’t improve the situation.
We can make fun of President Trump, disagree on his views and actions, and even go as far as not respect him as a person. What we definitely cannot do, is not show respect for the figure of the President of the United States of America.
This country has a lot of freedom and a lot of liberties, but one thing that we really have to keep in place at all times, is respect.
HR