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I'd seen such fear before, especially during the bad days of the Korean War. If we didn't get a hold of these guys, get a little discipline and a defensive perimeter in a hurry, we might find ourselves very dead. Very soon.
I grabbed Rangers and aircrew by the back of their jackets and seat of their pants, shouting and pulling and pushing until we had a half-assed 360-degree perimeter around the downed bird. Almost every man was wounded, but they were game.
On the battlefield when things are bad it takes only a few brave men to turn things around. It's been my experience in battle that out of ten men, only one or two are natural fighters. But once a fighter shouts, "Follow me" and charges, the rest are inspired to follow. In this instance, the Rangers, even bloodied, remained fighters to a man.
-Colonel David Hackworth quoted from Steel My Soldiers' Hearts
I'll add that Colonel Hackworth was cleaning up another glory hunting officer's mess here. He didn't have to do it, and as Battalion CO, he didn't have to go in himself. But he did it because he cared for his men, and that's the other component of courage.
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