Walk a Mile in his shoes...

It is often said that you do not know someone until you have walked a mile in his or her shoes. Whose shoes would you walk in and why?

The cliché of not knowing someone until you have walked a mile in their shoes is often used in American culture. While people often use this as a counter against someone else’s comment, few actually sit down and take the time to consider what specific person’s shoes they would want to walk in. While it could be considered an example of what you wish to become, I believe that whose shoes you would want to walk in instead show who you already are as a person. The qualities that someone would adhere to, and admire would have a great impact upon the person they would wish to imitate. For me those qualities are clear; loyalty, courage, and expertise. With those qualities in mind, it was quite easy for me to pick whose shoes I would walk a mile in. Gary Gordon, born in Lincoln, Maine on August 30th 1960 was an Army Ranger, and a member of the Army’s elite Delta SFO Detachment. He not only exhibits loyalty to the United States Army, courage while under fire, but also expertise, allowing him to save another soldiers life. I would chose him because not only was he a member of a special unit which I hope to one day join, but he also exemplifies those qualities which I hold most dear. Lastly, although it is quite impossible, I would give anything for the chance to walk a mile in the shoes of such a man, and learn how he raised himself to the standard to which he lived and died by.

For me, as much of the world the values of a person act not only as a moral compass, but also as a barometer for the rest of the world to use when judging the individual. Partially because of how I was raised, and partially because of what I want to do with my life, the top three character traits to me are loyalty, courage, and expertise. In picking whose shoes I would most want to walk in, I would not only want to pick someone who had these character traits, I would want to pick someone who had these traits even more abundant in their life then I do, so I could learn from them. To the every day American, loyalty usually means simply not stabbing each other in the back. While technically loyalty is defined by “The state or quality of being loyal; faithfulness to commitments or obligations” and “Faithful adherence to a sovereign, government, leader, cause, etc” by www.dictionary.com, Gary Gordon’s personal definition of loyalty went above and beyond the usual definition. He not only served his nation to the best of his ability, regardless of whether or not he agreed with the aims of his mission at one time or another, and he continuously put himself at an increased risk to protect others, showing his devout loyalty not only to his nation, but to his fellow soldiers. As for courage, it is a quality that modern America is severely lacking in, when political and social leaders would rather pull out of a conflict or potential conflict just to avoid any danger. This is not an attitude that was shared by Gary Gordon. Anyone who read his Medal of Honor citation could tell that. He volunteered to go into enemy territory with just himself and a single other Delta operator to take on potentially hundreds of armed Somali militia. Even after battling their way to the downed helicopter, removing the pilot to a more secure area, and fighting off the militia until they were nearly all out of ammunition, they refused to retreat and leave to pilot to whatever fate awaited him. Gary Gordon fought on with whatever weapon he could until he was finally killed by the Somali militia. While his actions speak for his courage and his loyalty, his expertise at what he did also became readily obvious to anyone paying attention. Not only did he show himself to be among the top 0.1% of all American Special Forces in being chosen for Delta Force, but he was also selected as a Delta sniper, and squad leader, putting him among the top soldiers in the entire world. His actions that day also spoke to his expertise, as he was able to provide sniper support while riding in a weaving helicopter, and later when he went to rescue the downed pilot, he was able to hold off hundreds of heavily armed Somali militia long enough for the pilot to be able to survive the day. His actions that day, however futile they may have seemed, saved the pilots life and exuded the finest kind of courage, loyalty, and expertise any American soldier could hope to; making him the prime candidate for a person I would like to spend the time walking a mile in their shoes.

While the character traits would have a huge impact on who I chose, their profession would also greatly effect my decision. As I wish to pursue a career in the Army first as an Infantry officer, then moving on to Rangers and perhaps even deeper into special forces, a person who has already gone through what it takes to become a Delta operator would obviously top my list. Not only would I get to see how this great man lived by walking in his shoes, I would also get to see what he lived through, and how it affected him. This is something that any future Army officer would obviously want to do before making a choice to devote his life to his nation and unit, and it is no different for me. If I had the chance one day to walk a mile in someone’s shoes, Gary Gordon’s career path would make him a top runner in my list of candidates.

Lastly, seeing how Gary Gordon was such a successful soldier, anyone interested in becoming one as well would probably like a chance to see how the most successful of their role models shaped himself into such a great person. It is not easy changing from a normal American teenager into a basic soldier, and it is even harder morphing from that soldier to become something bigger, something better. The difficulties that are known to be ahead for all potential special forces operatives is something that scares many people away. Fear of the unknown, and even more then that, fear of the fact that while it is unknown what you will face, it is known that whatever it is it will be highly difficult. Being able to walk in someone’s shoes that have already been through that would give you a taste of what lies in wait for you, giving you the ability to steel yourself for the hardships that lie ahead.

With the choices of potential people number in the millions, Gary Gordon stands out not only because of the three main character traits he so brilliantly lives by, loyalty, courage, and expertise, but also because of his career choice, a Delta Force operator. The combinations of these things, with the fact that he had been through much turmoil in his Army career would make him an excellent role model, and the person who I would most want to walk a mile in their shoes.