“Leadership must be positive.” I believe that LT McDonough was getting at the deeper truth when the going gets tough, the tough get going. As my grandmother used to say to me, “If you have nothing good to say, don’t say it.” When the village was destroyed, one could ask what was the purpose of it all? As the platoon leader, he did not ponder the village’s destruction, he focused on what he could control. Through all the casualties and close calls, he tried to remain focused on what was best for the platoon, not himself.

LT McDonough recognized that his survival resulted from as much luck as it was discipline, so he kept his platoon wired tight, but he never was foolhardy.  A reader can tell that COL McDonough has long pondered the results of his decisions in Vietnam. His comment about leadership was born from instinct but I would bet it took years to codify.