I really liked what Higgins said, especially ” Soldiers will feed off of their leader as to what the mood is going to be.” You can see this exemplified in McDonough’s actions in Epilogue, where he begins to say goodbye to his platoon. McDonough says “I tried to be upbeat, to avoid any semblance of mawkishness, to hide the concerns I held for each man and the shame I felt at leaving them.” This quote shows LTs enduring concern for his soldier’s safety and his understanding that if he acted overtly concerned about the fact that he was leaving the platoon, his soldiers would begin to question why he was so concerned. This questioning could potentially lead to issues with soldiers morale, and issues with trust in the incoming LT. I think that in general, the actions of the LT gave his platoon a sense of confidence in their abilities because LT, while he may not have felt confident in himself, composed himself and always gave off the aura of self-confidence to his men which in turn, made them more confident.