HONOR, COURAGE, AND COMMITMENT I still remember the day I graduated from Navy boot camp. I stood in formation and marched in ranks during the pass and review. I was dressed in my newly pressed uniform and polished dress shoes. I felt a sense of pride and accomplishment as I walked by the families and friends of not only myself, but of my fellow recruits, now my shipmates. I also remember stopping in front of the upper chain of command, and listening to the Executive Officer of Naval Station Great Lakes Recruit Training Command. He spoke to the graduating contingent, talking about how we can take the three navy core values; honor, courage and commitment, anywhere we go. These values can be applied to anything we choose to do. These values were not made up for only the Navy, but for everyone, it is an overall aspect of life. I have come to find this very true, this I believe.
Honor has many meanings. The Navy has taught me their definition of honor which is “to abide by an uncompromising code of integrity, taking responsibility for our actions and keeping our word.” To me I think that means to do the right thing when no one is looking and to stand up and accept the consequences when you know you’re in the wrong. The other day, while I was out at the grocery store, standing in line at the bakery, a woman was in front of me with her little girl. She reached in her pocket and grabbed her wallet, dropping something out of her pocket. Not noticing what had happen, she paid for her groceries and walked off. I bent down to see what it was and to my surprise it was a hundred dollar bill. I quickly ran after her, handing her the money. She was very grateful as she thanked me she told me what the money was for. It turned out that she was on her way to the pharmacy to get her nephew his allergy medicine. The hundred dollar bill was money she had taken out from the atm not but twenty minutes earlier to pay for it. Of course like anyone else I could have pocketed the money, but I would have had tremendous guilt going against my morals and knowing that it wasn’t my money. This was the honorable thing to do.
Courage is to have the moral and mental strength to do what is right, even in the face of adversity. Courage to me is facing anything that is difficult, painful or dangerous instead of hiding from it. My favorite quote is “the only thing we have to fear is fear its self.” Franklin D. Roosevelt. That quote reminds me that everyone must go through something where they have to gather up all their courage, face their fears and run with it at full force. Everyone has something to fear and that’s a fact. Courage is something that helps you get through tough times. I believe that I am courageous in going back to school. It takes courage in trying new things and improving yourself. I am extremely nervous about not understanding the material, meeting deadlines and failing my courses. Because of these fears; I study hard, participate in class and ask questions. I also have the fear of public speaking, but the more I get to know my peers, the more comfortable I am in front of them. Knowing the fact that I’m not the only one with the fear of public speaking comforts me and relaxes me when I am giving a speech. The following are examples of brave people that have been and still are in my life. Today is father’s day and as I sit here and remember my father, I don’t remember him for the fact that he was sick with cancer, but I remember that he was brave in facing that illness and coming to accept that he had cancer. He lived each day as if it were his last, loving deeper, taking risk, speaking sweeter and giving forgiveness. He was a very strong man not giving up and giving in to cancer he tried everything to get rid of the illness. He kept fighting until the day he went to see Jesus. My mother is also a brave person, every day she took great care of him. Just simply knowing that he was sick made her want to give up and cry, but she knew that