Marcus ‘Doc’ Cronin
Major Ammon Campbell - Utah State University ROTC
The legendary American Military Hero, General George S. Patton once said, “Moral courage is the most valuable and usually most absent characteristic in men.” I also believe that moral courage is one of the most valuable characteristics a man can have, in that to truly be a man of character, you must first have moral courage in order to live and defend your values. Without moral courage, values become something that are easy to live when things are easy and you are just coasting along, but when the going gets tough, those without moral courage will be more apt to yield to the tide of ease, popularity, or pressure. I believe my values, along with my moral courage which has been tried and tested and proven to be unbending, complement the Army Values of the United States of America. My values help me to better live the Army’s values, and the Army values help me to better live my values. My core values fall under three categories: 1) devotion to my religion; 2) loyalty to my family and friends; and 3) dedication to self-improvement. The army values are loyalty, duty, respect, selfless-service, honor, integrity, and personal courage.
My religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, provides the foundation for all of my values, standards, and morals. It is by living the teachings of my religion that I have developed my values and principles. Attending church every Sunday along with going to church activities has taught me to be faithful to God and my leaders, to be kind and charitable to everyone, especially those in need, to always be honest and loyal to that what I know to be true, to be diligent and hardworking, to be cheerful and optimistic in all things, and to defend the cause of freedom and liberty. The values I have learned by living my religion go hand in hand with the army’s values including duty – living in
References: General George S Patton. GENERAL GEORGE S. PATTON, JR. QUOTATIONS. Retrieved from http://www.generalpatton.com/quotes/index.html United States Army. The Army Values. Retrieved from http://www.army.mil/values/ General Dwight D Eisenhower. As quoted in the text Eisenhower’s Generalship by Stephen e. Ambrose. (1990) Retrieved from http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/parameters/Articles/2010winter/Ambrose.pdf