Fort Knox, KY, in 1960 was still a very active military base that was home to a large tank training unit, some basic training units, and a few tons of gold.  I was there at the tender age of seventeen to do my basic training.   After waiting a one or two anxiety filled weeks for enough raw recruits to show up to form a company we were transferred to our stark, drab and extremely functional barracks.

        Age and time have erased any specific memories of how it all happened but I know that at some time we had to fall out into formation and attend to the business of the hour.  We also met our cadre, the sergeants and officers who would be cracking the whip over us for the next eight weeks.  We expected the worst.  We got the best.

       Our platoon Sargent was Sgt. Vargas.  A slight, fairly quiet, and unflappable Mexican America.  He hardly fit the image of the wall rattling, booming voiced, man-gorilla we usually think of when picturing a basic training platoon Sargent

       Our First Sargent was Sgt. Poolaw.  You don’t ask a Sargent what his first name is . . . Or much of anything else.  So, I don’t think any of us knew his first name then.  He was just Sgt. Poolaw.  And he was impressive.  He seemed eight feet tall, but probably not.  His build was square, he looked like his smile had abandoned him long ago, and his words were few, but well chosen.  He was native American.

      One day someone came from company headquarters found me and told me I had to go see Sgt. Poolaw for something other than for discipline.  I am sure he had an office but he did not seem like an office kind of guy.  I was told to meet him at the flag pole.  I met him there.  For a seventeen year old boy to meet with the first Sargent was an honor beyond compare.  I had lost my father before I ever got to know him and Sgt. Poolaw seemed like the quintessential father.  It seemed to me that had I ever wondered what a father looked like, this was it. 

        I came to learn that most of the guys in my company felt the same.  Even Sgt. Vargas spoke of Sgt. Poolaw in respectful tones.  My platoon was not made up of really great soldiers but in the end we came to respect our leaders so much that we wanted to win the outstanding platoon award for Sgt. Vargas.  We worked extremely hard to get all the bolts on our m1s to click shut in unison after inspection arms.  And they did and we won.

       Many years went by and many sergeants went by, but whenever I thought of what a soldier was, the image of Sgt. Poolaw came to mind.  One thing he said still sticks out in my mind.  He said that when we left basic training each one of us must be the kind of soldier who, when our foxhole buddy look across the foxhole at us, he was trying to see if we are OK and not to see if we were there.  He drilled it in to look out for each other.

       My three years in the Army came to an end and my civilian life began.  Many more years interceded during which I often remembered that man who looked for all the world as if he were born in army fatigues.  There are only a couple of people that one meets in ones lifetime for whom there is a feeling of having been in the presence of someone with a great deal of integrity, honesty and courage.  He was that person.  For all the respect I held for the man I did not hold his name in my memory, no matter how hard I tried to dredge it up.

       But, a couple months ago, while visiting my wife’s relatives, one of her nephews arrived.  He had a fresh, very short haircut.  The thought immediately and involuntarily ran through my mind, “That looks like a Poolaw”.   I was thinking about the haircut.  Sgt. Poolaw had been a stickler for Army hair fashion.  He told us to get our hair cut every two weeks and just tell any barber on base we wanted a “Poolaw”.  That is how the name came back to me.  I wrote it down before I was robbed of it again for another thirty years.

       When I got home I decided to Google “Poolaw”  to see what I could find.  Amazing!!  His name was Pascal Cleatus Poolaw Sr.  He was the most highly decorated Native American soldier in the history of the U. S. Military.  Among other decorations he won, as a young soldier in WWII, was the Silver Star, the military’s second highest wartime medal.  His commendation read, in part, as follows:

 Near Recogne, Belgium, on 8 September 1944. While attacking in support of a rifle company, Sergeant Poolaw displaced his machine gun squad forward across an open field under heavy mortar and small arms fire in such a manner as to effect a minimum number of casualties among his squad. After reaching his new position, Sergeant Poolaw saw the enemy advance in a strong counterattack. Standing unflinchingly in the face of withering machine gun fire for five minutes, he hurled hand grenades until the enemy force sustained numerous casualties and was dispersed. Due to Sergeant Poolaw’s actions, many of his comrades’ lives were saved and the company was able to continue the attack and capture strongly defended enemy positions. Sergeant Poolaw’s display of courage, aggressive spirit and complete disregard for personal safety are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service.

He became a career soldier and served in the Korean War where, again he won several commendations including a second and third Silver Star.  His second Silver Star was awarded for the following action:

On 19 September 1950 when the company attack on an enemy position was halted by stiff enemy resistance, Sergeant First Class Poolaw volunteered to lead his squad in an assault. Courageously leading his men in a charge up the slope to penetrate the enemy perimeter and engage the numerically superior enemy in fierce hand-to-hand combat, Sergeant First Class Poolaw inspired his men to hold their position until the remainder of the company was able to seize the objective. Sergeant First Class Poolaw’s outstanding leadership reflects great credit upon himself and is in keeping with the highest traditions of the American Soldier.

Again, later in the Korean War, he earned a third Silver Star by these heroic actions:

 On 4 April 1951 near Chongong-ni, Korea, while attacking strong hostile positions, one squad of Master Sergeant Poolaw’s platoon was immobilized by a devastating automatic weapons and mortar barrage. Exposing himself to the deadly fire, he slowly advanced across open terrain, firing his rifle as he progressed. By deliberately diverting the attention of the foe to himself, he enabled his men to maneuver to more advantageous positions. Master Sergeant Poolaw’s valorous actions were instrumental in the fulfillment of the unit mission and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the American Soldier.

       I served with Sgt. Poolaw in 1960 and in 1962 he retired from the military.  When Vietnam heated up Sgt. Poolaw saw one of his sons go to Vietnam and lose a leg to action there.  When another son joined the Army and was served with orders to go to Vietnam, Sgt. Poolaw quickly re-enlisted in the Army in the hope of volunteering for Vietnam, thereby, under the Army tradition of not allowing two family members to serve in the same theater of war at the same time, to relieve his son of the obligation of going to Vietnam.  His plan failed and both father and son were sent to Vietnam.    

       In fighting there Sgt. Poolaw earned his last Silver Star medal, posthumously.  He was killed during the Battle of Loc Ninh when, while wounded himself, he was carrying a wounded man to safety he was struck by a rocket propelled grenade.  His inscription reads as follows:

for gallantry in action against a hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam on 7 November 1967, while serving with Company C, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. On this date, during Operation SHENANDOAH II, First Sergeant Poolaw was accompanying his unit on a two-company search and destroy mission near Loc Ninh. As the patrol was moving through a rubber plantation, they were subjected to sniper fire. Within minutes, the area was raked with intensive claymore mine, rocket, small arms, and automatic weapons fire from a numerically superior Viet Cong force. First Sergeant Poolaw unhesitatingly ran to the lead squad which was receiving the brunt of the enemy fire. With complete disregard for his personal safety, he exposed himself to assist in deploying the men and establishing an effective base of fire. Although wounded, he continued to move about the area encouraging his men and pulling casualties to cover. He was assisting a wounded man to safety when he was mortally wounded by Viet Cong fire. His dynamic leadership and exemplary courage contributed significantly to the successful deployment of the lead squad and undoubtedly saved the lives of many of his fellow soldiers. First Sergeant Poolaw’s unquestionable valor in close combat against numerically superior hostile forces is in keeping with the finest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, the 1st Infantry Division, and the United States Army.

          I am proud to have known Sgt. Poolaw and I am also proud that when he was killed he was serving in the same regiment that my father served in during WWI, the 26th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division (The Big Red One).

In all Sgt. Poolaw received 13 awards for valor during his career.  Each one of which any ordinary soldier could be very proud.  He was nominated for a Congressional Medal of Honor.  He was a Kiowa Indian from Oklahoma.  At Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he is buried, there is a building named after him and there stands a bust of his likeness.  And, of course, his name is inscribed on the Vietnam War Memorial Wall in Washington, D. C. 

I am not much of a military person even though my father and all eight of his sons served in the military.  But I know that as long as we continue to ask young men to go to battle for us, and possibly die for us, we have a crying need for people like Sgt. Poolaw to train and lead them.  And, I am satisfied, that during my life time, I have met at least one great man.

Think of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, a great teacher and thinker who sacrificed his own happiness for the sake of mankind and revolutionized the way we live and worship. Where would the world be without him?

Think of the great Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, he gave up so much despite having been born in relative wealth in order to understand man and his needs, his passions. Think of the great Chinese philosopher Confucius, so much for being Christ’s forerunner, but his thinking was indeed great, and the world has learned so much from him.

I have in mind great men like Mahatma Gandhi who led India’s non violence resistance to British colonialism, Nelson Mandela who survived more than a quarter a century in prison to become the first black president of the republic of South Africa, Vladimir Lenin who led the Russian revolution alongside Leon Trotsky, Chairman Mao Tse Tung who modernized China and gave it respect among all nations.

I have in mind writers like Leo Tolstoy who revolutionized the art of writing a novel, Rabindranath Tagore, who sang beautiful songs and wrote fluid poetry that moved mountains, William Shakespeare whose sonnets have forever redefined the art of love and loving, Sigmund Freud, he who invented the Psychoanalytic theory and interpretation of dreams.

I think of Che Guevara, he who fought for men to be free from the shackles of imperialism until he died on the battlefield, Mother Teresa, the nun who gave up comfort for the sake of the poor children of India. These people dedicated themselves to changing the world and were it not for their sacrifice; we would not be where we are.

We remember their contribution, but sadly, we take it for granted. Shall history remember us; shall anything be written about us? I would be glad if I were to be named in a foot note of a historical text, I would be glad if my iota of contribution were to be minuted but were the truth to be said, the present generation has failed in fighting for freedom, standing for the truth and s[peaking honestly on the vices that surround us, and that is why the world continues to wallow in the miasma of wanton destruction, and that is why we say nothing when everything around us seems to be going wrong. Our children and our children’s children shall have nothing to remember us for; they will have nothing to praise mummy, daddy, grandma and grandpa for, because we are cowards and have failed. The present generation has no Christ, no Muhammad, no Buddha, no Confucius, no Gandhi, nobody.

You and I need to rise up and shape our destiny; you and I need to rethink our purpose on earth. Whatever little sacrifices you take shall be welcome by future generations and they will remember you for the part you took in fighting terrorism, impunity, disease, ignorance, poverty and environmental degradation.

Arise, let us whip you up the mountain and nail you upon that big cross. Sacrifice that future generations may have a piece of this earth, for at the rate at which we are destroying it, we might not any fresh water or air left for them to drink or breath in.

Some shook the world by arriving: Gandhi at the sea to make salt, Yuri Gagarin in Space. Others by refusing to depart: Rosa Parks from her bus seat, “the Unknown Rebel” in Tiananmen Square. There were those who inspired awe, who could make freedom radiate through walls of a Birmingham jail, a South African prison or a Nazi concentration camp. Others engineered machines that could fly and machines that could think, conquered infections and discovered the molecules that form the basis of life. There were people who could inspire us with a phrase, frighten us with a word, or revise the universe with an equation.

Regardless they all had one thing in common. They were great. They achieved that elusive trait which seemed to evade the majority of the population for so long. And yet when we think of great people, very few are from our modern era. So I must ask, is it a case that great men are no longer needed, or is it a case that in our world or interdependence, “greatness” is no longer simply an individual trait. Have great men been replaced by a collective greatness?

Certainly, there are individuals we could blame for the many painful and disconcerting things that are occurring around us. There is no foreseeable end for the conflict in Iraq as it becomes more and more entrenched. Vicious skirmishes continue to erupt between Israel and Lebanon. A war drags on in Sudan. Nuclear proliferation is becoming more widespread. The threat of nuclear war hovering above, dictating almost all global actions. Meanwhile nobody fixed global warming.

But look at our modern world through a different lens and you’ll discover another story, one that isn’t about conflict or great men. Where “greatness” is no longer rare, and no longer constituted by an individual. Because great men are no longer needed. It’s a story about community and collaboration on a scale never experienced before. It’s about the universal compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the people’s mass media You Tube and the online metropolis Bebo. It’s about the many wrestling power from the few and empowering the powerless, giving a voice to the voiceless. This will not only change the world, but also change the way in which the world itself changes, in which the world view “greatness”.

I believe that the tool that has made this possible is the World Wide Web. It has enabled those who would have otherwise been engulfed, forgotten by the history shine. Not the Web that Tim Berners-Lee hacked together seventeen years ago, according to Wikipedia, as a way for scientists to share research. It’s not even the over hyped dotcom Web of the late 1900s. The new Web is a very different thing. It’s tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter: creating a universal “greatness”, defining it for our generation. Silicon Valley calls it web 2.0, as if it were a new version of some old software. But really it’s a revolution.

And we are ready for it. We’re read to balance our diet of pre-digested prejudiced news with raw feeds from Baghdad, Beijing and Boston. We can learn more about how the citizens of the world live just by looking at the backgrounds or You Tube videos than we ever could have from watching hundreds of hours of network television.

And we don’t just watch, we participate, like never before. We, every individual, get the chance to take part in what constitutes “greatness”. We make Face book profiles and Second Life avatars and review books at Amazon and trade goods on EBay and record pod casts on iTunes. We blog about our political candidates losing and write songs about lost loves. We record footage or war torn countries and build open-source software.

The world may love it’s solitary geniuses- it’s Einstein’s, it’s Edison’s, its Eisenhower’s, but those isolated dreamers may have to learn to play with others. In a world where global communication is an everyday occurrence, every individual now not only has the opportunity, but the responsibility to be great. Car companies are running open design contests, CNN is carrying blog posting alongside its regular news feed, Microsoft is working overtime to fend off user-created Linux, we’re looking at an explosion of productivity and innovation, and it’s just getting started, as millions of minds that would otherwise have drowned in obscurity get backhauled into global intellectual economy.

“Greatness” can finally be achieved by everyone. And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, “greatness” belongs to each and every one of us. Sure, it’s a mistake to romanticise all this any more that is strictly necessary. Web 2.0 harness the stupidity of the crowds as well as its wisdom. Some of the comments on You Tube make you weep for the future of humanity just for the spelling alone, never mind the bigotry and the naked hatred and racism.

But that’s what makes all this worthy of commentary. Web 2.0 is a massive social experiment, and like any experiment worth trying, it could fail. There’s no road map for how an organism that’s not a bacterium lives and works together on this planet in numbers in excess of 6 billion. This is an opportunity to build a new kind of international understanding, not politician, great man to great man, but citizen to citizen, person to person. It’s a chance for people to inspire others, to reach out and make a difference, to exalt “greatness”. For “greatness”, is no longer simply a quality for “great men”. To me, in the Twenty first century “Greatness” is symbolised by interdependence, inter-reliance and by a world in which “great men” are rendered redundant and obsolete, as every man, regardless of race, religion or creed, has the opportunity to be great.

Here are five great men who dedicated their own lives for the good of the people that they serve during their time:

John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States of America. His service to the American people was short-lived when he was assassinated in 1963 in Dallas, Texas. Although he was not able to finish his term in office, he was well loved by the American people for his vision and outstanding service to the country.

Because of his youth, charisma and his outstanding leadership qualities, he won the hearts and minds of the American electorate and voted for him to become the 35th President of America.

In his famous inaugural address as the 35th President of the United States of America, he encouraged the American people to unite and he said: “Ask not what your country can dofor you, ask what you can do for your country”. This famous statement became the rallying point for Americans to unite and to fight the evils of war, poverty, disease, and tyranny.

One of his major contributions to mankind was his support for racial integration and civil rights. During his incumbency, the issue of racial discrimination was so widespread in America that even with the US Supreme Court ruling that racial segregation in schools, public transport, movie houses and in other public places was illegal; he succeeded in his campaign to put an end to this recurring social disease.

In some of his most radical actions, he would send law enforcers to places where racial segregation was being tolerated by local officials, with instructions to stop them as they are contrary to law. In 1962, James Meredith, a famous black victim of racial discrimination, tried to enroll at the University of Mississippi but was prevented by white students. When Kennedy learned about this, he sent 400 federal marshals and 3,000 troops to ensure that Meredith could enroll in the University. Years later James Meredith would become a popular civil rights activist.

At one point in his political career, John F. Kennedy intervened for the early release of Martin Luther King from prison for crimes associated with racial discrimination. His intervention triggered the charismatic spiritual and civil rights leader’s prominence in the civil liberties movement.

Some of his famous quotations:

“It is better to be violent if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence”

“Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names”

“Ask not what America can do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man”

Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi was born in the state of Gujarat in India on October 2, 1869. His early education in India was nothing spectacular as he was just an ordinary student. He recalled that there was nothing to note about his studies from primary school up to his secondary education. He was a very shy student and would even try to avoid company of his classmates. He was just content within his books and working on his lessons.

After completing his secondary education, he went to England for his college education. He was educated in law at the University College in London in 1891. He finished his law degree and was eventually admitted to the British bar.

After becoming a lawyer, he went back to India to practice law but was not successful. Two years later he was hired by an Indian firm with interests in Africa. Arriving in Durban, Gandhi found himself being treated as member of an inferior race. While working in Africa, he was appalled by the widespread denial of civil liberties and political rights to his fellow Indians who settled there as immigrants. Seeing the sad flight of his fellow Indians, he decided to throw himself into the political struggle for the basic rights of the Indian community.

His immersion into the political mainstream of South Africa marked the beginning of his civil rights advocacy. Gandhi remained in Africa for 20 years fighting for freedom and democracy. He would suffer humiliation and imprisonment from white South Africans but he was steadfast in his passive resistance for non-cooperation.

When he return to India in 1915, he rallied and led the Indian people in a campaign for easing poverty, promoting human rights especially for women, economic self-reliance and most of all for the independence of India from foreign domination.

For his unrelenting campaign for the realization of his advocacies through peaceful means, he was put in prison on many occasions and he would always emerge triumphant in the end because of his grassroots support and non-violent stance on issues of human rights, economic development and nationalism.

Some of his famous quotations:

“I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before anyone even at the cost of your life”

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes”

Nelson Mandela

Mandela was born on July 18 1918 in southern Transkei in South Africa. When he was nine years old, his father died. leaving him to the care of his uncle who eventually became his guardian. He spent his early education in a Methodist missionary school and later to Healdtown High School. Moving on to college for his arts degree at the African Native College, Mandela failed to obtain a college degree as he was kicked out of the school for joining a student strike.

In the interim, he found employment as a Security Guard in a gold mining company in the south side of Johannesburg. While working, he continued his studies via correspondence at the University of South Africa where he obtained his BA Degree. He studied law later at the University of Witwatersrand where he met and befriended his future anti-apartheid political activists including Joe Slovo and Harry Schwarz.

Nelson Mandela became an active anti apartheid campaigner in 1952 with his anti defiance campaign with the Congress of the People group whose adoption of the freedom charter provided for the fundamental program of the anti-apartheid cause. At that time Mandela was already a practicing lawyer together with his law partner, Oliver Tambo. Their law firm Mandela and Tambo provided low cost legal services to mostly black clients who otherwise cannot afford costly legal services

Like his famous idol, Mahatma Gandhi, he led a mass action for non-violent struggle for the restoration of human rights and continuing his anti- apartheid campaign. For being a prominent figure in this campaign, he was subsequently arrested with 150 other personalities and was charged with treason for which he was acquitted five years later.

In 1959, his group ANC lost mass support when fellow Africans who switched loyalties and got financial support from outside sources sympathetic to their cause. And so in 1961, Mandela found himself leading the right-wing group of ANC. It was during this period where Mandela opted to embrace violence as his option of last resort. Together with some of his most trusted allies, they started series bombings in the key cities where government offices are located. Mandela gave strict instructions to his men to avoid harming people in the bombing activities as he explained that this is being done only to send a strong message to the government the anti apartheid struggle will continue until the government give in to the demands of his thousand of supporters.

In 1963, Mandela and his close allies was again arrested and charged with plotting to overthrow the government through violence. He was put to trial and after a year he was sentenced to life imprisonment. During his long stay in prison, he refused offers from government for concessions that will lead to his freedom by giving up his political convictions.

After his release in 1991, he continued his work and was subsequently elected as President of ANC while his friend and law partner, Oliver Tambo became Chairman. In 1994, the first South African multi racial election was held and Mandela’s party won 62% of the votes. Mandela eventually became South Africa’s first black President. He stayed on as President for about five years. He retired in 1999 without running for re-election. Nelson Mandela is now 90 years old and still living.

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Some of his famous quotations:

“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered”

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others”

“I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January on January 15, 1929. He was the son of Reverend Martin Luther King Sr. He attended Booker T. Washington High School. Skipping 9th and 12th grade, he enrolled at Morehouse College at the age of 15 without formally graduating from High School. In 1948, he graduated from college with a degree of Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. Later he enrolled at the Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania and obtained a degree of Bachelor in Divinity. Pursuing his graduate studies, he enrolled at Boston University for his doctorate degree and finally received his Doctor of Philosophy in June 1955.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was greatly influenced by Howard Thurman, a civil rights leader and educator. Thurman was a very close friend and classmate of his father at Morehouse College. Martin was very active in Thurman’s missionary where he had an opportunity to meet with his idol Mahatma Gandhi in one of his trips to India in 1959. His trip to India and his encounter with his idol gave him a deep understanding of Gandhi’s unrelenting struggle for change through non-violent means. Bayard Rustin, who studied Gandhi’s teachings, counseled him to dedicate himself to the principle of non-violence. Rustin is a noted American civil rights activist and one of his closest advisers. His encounters with Gandhi and his constant encounters with his senior civic and spiritual advisers have influenced much in his crusade for peace and equality through non-violent means.

Armed with his impressive educational and religious background Martin would get himself involved in actual street demonstrations in protest of segregation and human rights violations. He would stand in the way for anyone who is not treated fairly because of his color or race. He would be in every demonstration throughout the United States to fight for the rights of black Americans. Among the most popular events and venues where he attended in support of his crusade for peace and equality through non-violent means include; the Albany Movement, the Birmingham campaign, the March on Washington, Bloody Sunday 1965 and the Chicago 1966, among others.

All these significant events were systematically organized by the civil rights activists with Martin Luther King Jr leading the way to stop racial discrimination and human rights violations through non-violent means. For dedicating his life to the cause of peace and equality, Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested, jailed and put on trial for various offenses and he would continue his struggle until he was assassinated at the very young age. He was 39 years old when he was shot while he was standing in his hotel’s second floor balcony. James Earl Ray confessed to the assassination and pleaded guilty to avoid life imprisonment. There were allegations of conspiracy behind Martin’s death, leaving many questions unanswered until today.

Some of his famous quotations:

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”

“The ultimate measure of man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy”

“I submit to you that if a man hasn’t discovered something he will die for, he isn’t fit to live”

Sir Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill was born on November 30, 1874 in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. England. Churchill was independent and rebellious by nature and did poorly in school. He enrolled at Harrow School in 1888 where his military career began as member of the Harrow Rifle Corps. He was good in English and History.

As a growing young man he was seldom visited by his parents. His father died when he was 20 years old while his mother would rarely see him for a short visit. In their absence, he was taken care of by his Nanny, Elizabeth Anne Everest.

Churchill got married to Clementine Hozier in 1908 at St. Margaret in Westminster. The Churchill’s have five children but their 4th child died. They settled down in their home which they bought in 1922 in Chartwell which would be Winston’s home until his death in 1965.

Churchill started his career in military service when he enrolled in the Royal Military Academy in Sunburst. It took him 3 attempts before passing the entrance examinations. He took the cavalry course and graduated number 8 out of 150 graduates in 1894 and was immediately commissioned as 2nd lieutenant with meager salary which was not enough to support his family.

While on duty, he tried his hand in writing which eventually landed him as a war correspondent for various London newspapers. In 1895, he was sent to Cuba to cover the war. He also visited New York while stationed in Cuba. There he was influenced greatly by his host, Bourke Cochran who was then an established American politician, a member of the House of Representative and a potential presidential candidate. That encounter in New York would mark the beginning of Churchill’s political career.

But in the interim, Churchill was sent to various locations all over Europe and India to serve as a military officer. He traveled to Pakistan, Sudan, South Africa and other countries to serve his country in war and in time of peace.

In 1900, Churchill formally entered politics and was elected for a seat in Oldham general elections. He would later travel to the United States and other countries for speaking engagements earning for him 10 thousand pounds. Eventually Churchill was appointed undersecretary of State dealing mainly with South Africa and later as Secretary of State for War.

In 1924, Churchill was appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer that oversaw the disastrous return to Gold standard that resulted into deflation, unemployment and eventually leading to General Strike of 1926. The transformation was considered as Churchill’s greatest mistake of his life as the radical changes made on the currency of England brought in chain effects on various industries of the country. This was the beginning of his fall and political isolation. In the meantime war continues and in his role in war for most of hi life has generated for him so much goodwill and support from the British people and he was kept in high regard.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Churchill was again appointed as First Lord of Admirability in 1940 and became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and led the British victory against the axis powers. He lost in the 1945 elections and later become the leader of the opposition. In 1951, he again won the elections and became Prime Minister for the second time before retiring in 1955.

His famous quotations:

“All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope”

“It is not enough to do our best, sometimes we have to do what is right”

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen”

Man possesses extraordinary abilities that allow him to rise above all other animals and conquer the world as lord and master. But just as a gun can be used to survive against predators and feed the family, it can also be directed to the destruction of other human beings. As History has shown repeatedly, wars, famine and pestilence have been a common occurrence in every civilization ever since modern times began.

Luckily, Great Men and Women have appeared from time to time to show us the path to wisdom, happiness and peace of mind. They have told us again and again that we can channel that most extraordinary tool called the Mind to lead “The Good Life”, to use our brain to the fullest and fulfill our enormous potential, to do good in our environment, to help others when needed and to control our most destructive instincts.

Yet, most scientists agree that we use only 5 to 10% of our mental capacity, perhaps even less. For example, a great portion of the population gets along with only 700 words in their vocabulary. How can they express their innermost thoughts with such a limited lexicon? How can they understand the complexity of modern civilization and the important role they could play if they took the time to contemplate their wonderful inner self?

The answer is disheartening: they cannot do it, because they are satisfied with a “simple” life that repeats itself day after day; work, television, chores, paying the bills, driving the kids to school and washing dirty clothes. Reading has become an activity threatened with extinction; why read when the “dumb” screen gives me all the emotion that I crave? I watch “The Apprentice”, or “American Idol” or “Desperate Housewives” or the Game with a capital G on a daily basis, without ever considering that I am not exercising that most valuable tool, my Mind.

And so my days pass with the same insipid fare, with the same absence of meaningful communication with the children, with the same routine. Even sex becomes a calendar activity that takes place every Friday night, after the show of course. And what happens to the Great Tool ? Like any body muscle, it atrophies, it becomes less and less active and less and less capable of transcendent activity. Is this really the purpose of my life? Is there something more uplifting, more meaningful that every adult is capable of experiencing?

On that subject Buddha said:
“Transcendental Intelligence rises when the intellectual-mind reaches its limit and, if things are to be realized in their true and essential nature, its mental processes, which are based on particularized ideas, discriminations and judgments, must be transcended by an appeal to some higher faculty of cognition.”
Transcending means going beyond the rational processes, just as intuition is believed to appear from some subconscious source. For religions, praying is a transcendental event which allows us to communicate with the Universal Mind.
You may interpret Universal Mind as synonymous with God or Allah or whatever name you prefer. The incredible revelation made by the Enlightened One (Buddha), is that we can “communicate” with that Universal Mind through the intuitive-mind, which allows us to reach self-realization – a term which can also be understood as seeing the light or the truth about ourselves.

The key term is “transcendental intelligence”. In other words, we must go beyond our rational intelligence in order to reach the ability that we all have and that we call “Intuition”. If asked for a definition of “intuition”, most of us would be hard pressed to explain the word. A philosopher would call it instinctive knowledge; something that we know without knowing (pardon the repetition) how we acquired it. A common person would answer the question saying: “I just know this is so”. As a matter of fact the belief in God is based precisely on intuition, since we cannot present proof of His/Her* existence.
*Note: Please do not be shocked at the use of a feminine pronoun. There is no proof that God is male and He/She could very well be both or something completely different. Using the term Universal Mind eliminates the problem of gender.

We feel a little wary when we see books that offer an easy way to boost our Mind Power, to acquire the ability to heal the most dreaded illnesses, to predict the future, to win the lottery, to seduce the opposite sex (or the same as the case may be). Indeed we should reject all types of psychic rip-offs, but sometimes desperate people will waste thousands of dollars on fruitless searches for the miracle cure.

The Great Minds of the past do not offer easy solutions; the road to enlightenment is hard, full of trying obstacles and at times, intense suffering. It is true, and surely you have read about these phenomena, that certain wise men of the East are able to accomplish extraordinary feats through the power of their minds. These fakirs, mostly from India, can control their bleeding, their heartbeats and even their body temperatures. Some were even able to levitate according to some observers. But these extraordinary men have spent a lifetime of meditation and fasting to reach such control of their autonomous nervous system (autonomous because we cannot control it, supposedly).

Most of us don’t want to reach their level of mind control; it would suffice to exercise our introspection on a regular basis to analyze our subconscious Ego and establish the necessary controls. That is the way to the Good Life, defined as our personal legacy to our children and to our society.