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Colonel Jessup Was Right
Popping up amidst tales of destruction, loss of lives, and heroic rescues in Houston was a contemptible crack that appeared in a Twitter feed about how red state Trump supporters deserved what they got. In addition to this was another smear that sneaked into the news while Houston was plunged into the agonies of enduring Hurricane Harvey.
It seems a newsletter entitled “Social Justice Collective Weekly” posted its concerns about those who have served in the military, suggesting that veterans should not be allowed to attend college. Naturally, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, where the posting took place, reacted with enough politically correct shibboleths to paper over any inconveniently provocative comments, and denounced discrimination on the basis of every standard imaginable, including race, ethnicity, gender, “gender expression,” gender identity,” “sexual orientation,” and so forth, along with a few political things here and there.
Which covered sexual offenses several times over, but what exactly did the SJWs find troubling about veterans? In the post’s words, “Many veterans openly mock the ideas of diversity and safe spaces for vulnerable members of society.” This comes naturally, because of veterans’ “socialization into the military culture” which is “that of a white supremacist organization” that leaves them “permanently tainted.” Moreover, “many students are frightened by… veterans’ overwhelming presence in the classroom, which can distract other students. This is usually true for vulnerable individual such as LGBTQQI2SAA, who have been known to be the butt of insensitive jokes made by veterans.”
Certainly, we can’t have people be the butt of jokes—least of all LGBTQQI2SAA—but apparently this is a real danger from those whose served, because also “veterans usually are associated with extremist right-wing groups such as the tea party and the NRA. In order to provide a safe place for all students, extremist right-wing groups must be suppressed on campus. This would include their followers: veterans.”
A number of veterans reacted strongly to this claptrap, and to the university’s credit, the Chancellor took their side. Still, this little contretemps brings to mind one of the best speeches ever made about the role of the military in defending American citizens, including, yes, even the country’s snowflakes and their LGBTQQI2SAA wards. The fact that it was delivered by a fictional character doesn’t diminish its effectiveness. Or its power. The entire exchange, involving Tom Cruise as Lieutenant Kaffee and the incomparable Jack Nicholson as Colonel Jessup in A Few Good Men is worth quoting in full:
Col. Jessup: You want answers?
Kaffee: I think I’m entitled to.
Col. Jessup: You want answers?
Kaffee: I want the truth!
Col. Jessup: You can’t handle the truth!
[pause]
Col. Jessup: Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know; that Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it! I would rather you just said “thank you” and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to!
The crowning achievement in this exchange is captured by Colonel Jessup’s unanswerable proclamation: “You can’t handle the truth!” He is absolutely right, regardless of the wrong decision he made in the case of Private Santiago in this fictional representation of a tragic incident in the Marine Corps. There’s no question that Colonel Jessup is rude, crude, arrogant, and profane, that he was responsible for Santiago’s death, and that he tried to cover it up. Unfortunately, such behavior does not make him unique in military history. Actions that are tolerated or overlooked during wartime are unconscionable during times of peace. It’s also true that he devoted his life to a righteous cause, which invariably entailed making life or death decisions under conditions of extraordinary stress.
That’s what commanders do. Indeed, anyone familiar with military history understands how many lives have been lost—sometimes numbering in the hundreds of thousands—from tragically mistaken command decisions. The role of the Colonel Jessups in our history, as this scene reminds us, is to keep such decisions to a minimum; in short, in spite of everything, to save as many lives as possible. That is the truth that snowflakes can’t handle.
The movie comes to a close with Lieutenant Kaffee calling Colonel Jessup a son-of-a-[expletive], to his face. Probably he is right. Still, who would you want to defend our country, the Lieutenant Kaffees or the Colonel Jessups? Or, worst of all, our incredibly sensitive snowflakes? My vote goes for Colonel Jessup, every time.
Published in Education, Military
False choice.
Speaking as a former enlisted, I would have hated serving under someone like Jessup.
The writer of a fictional narrative is God to the little world he creates. He can call characters into being, put words in their mouths, make them act in any manner he wishes. A great writer will sit back and allow his creations a great deal of freedom to act on their own. He is often surprised and amused at the results. A second-rate writer will move his people about like automatons in a drama the ending of which is preordained.
Aaron Sorkin wrote the play A Few Good Men which became the movie of the same title. It is a somewhat entertaining movie but ultimately unsatisfying. Sorkin brushes up close to greatness in the Jessup speech, the one moment the movie comes briefly to life. As portrayed by Jack Nicholson at his snarly best Col. Jessup sounds like a character that wants desperately to break free from story that was clacking along down a track that was set in place from the beginning. But Jessup couldn’t actually win, or have the last word. He had to have his comeuppance. The ending rolls into the cup like a six inch putt. Sorkin has been a second-rate writer ever since.
Great drill team at the start of the movie, gig ’em ags
Any excuse to watch this scene again:
False dichotomy. I hate Colonel Jessup and the archetype he portrays. There is never a time for senior officers to encourage beating the snot out of someone in his charge. I know you’re trying to make a point, about rough men standing ready, but it falls short. Jessup is a pig and belonged in jail.
Jessup is the type that becomes a Castro or Franco. He is an anomaly of the human being that will put tribalism ahead of what is right.
You’re right, I was trying to make a point, especially about the lack of respect for the military that so often we find on our college campuses, which drove me to write this to begin with. Perhaps I “overshot” the mark by not including a fourth alternative, certainly the most realistic one, which would balance the other comments. I’m not sure I understand your “tribalism” comment, however. At all events, thank you for your service.
A leader presiding over a tragic death on a base, reminds me of the head of the army, General Casey following the Fort Hood massacre:
“Our diversity, not only in our Army, but in our country, is a strength. And as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse,”
That is not fiction sadly. Even sadder, there was very little backlash to his deprioritizing actual deaths to the greater good of “diversity”. The fictional Jessup wasn’t a good leader in my opinion, but Casey is an even more despicable one in real life. And Casey is only one example of the many careerists who prioritize punching the diversity/sjw ticket over combat effectiveness and the actual lives of real people under their command.
The Marines in the movie acted as though they were a tribe, or a gang, that needed to hurt or kill others that they didn’t see as being worthy.
Col. Jessup? This is a guy who loses it under a little pressure from a college boy lawyer. He’s supposed to stand up to the pressure of combat? How did he ever make it through the Naval Academy if he can’t even handle Tom Cruise?
The most important quality of an officer is his integrity, without which he is untrustworthy. Neither Jessup or Lt. Kendrick have any – I’d much rather Kaffees than Jessups in the military.
Don’t sell Sorkin short, Franz. He was a second-rate writer well before that.
I’ve had this argument with my left-wing sister. She also argues that Col. Jessup is right.
I say Jessup is wrong. I say that he violates the Marines’ code. He puts himself above the Corps.
If Jessup truly believes his actions were right, he should be willing to own up to them, and then accept the consequences.
The men who serve under the Colonel do this. They follow their orders to the best of their ability and take the consequences.
Jessup thinks he can decide which of his orders he can follow and which ones he can disregard.
Jessup is a very poor Marine.
In defense of the OP, I will say that taken out of context, Jessup’s monologue is perfectly defensible. It’s the context (that he ordered an illegal corporal punishment that resulted in an accidental death and then tried to throw two junior enlisted under the bus for it) that makes the speech sinister.
Even without context, he condemns himself when he says, “I would prefer you just say thank you and went on your way.” Those are the words of a tyrant. A colonel is a leader, yes, but a colonel is also a servant.
The monologue could be defensible if it was someone else talking about Jessup. It is not defensible for Jessup to say it about himself.
The thrust of the speech is that, since Kaffee himself is not walking a post with a rifle, he has no standing to question how Jessup leads his unit, whatever that might involve.
Sorry. Whether or not Kaffee is a twit, or that those who might prosecute Jessup aren’t up to defending the nation as Marines do, is no justification for Jessup thinking his leadership style is beyond scrutiny. That’s part of what you sign up for when you become a Marine: Being subject to the legal system developed by people, many of whom who never would have made it as Marines themselves.
Marines are currently subject to the orders of Donald Trump, for crying out loud. If a Marine can’t handle that, he should resign.
To be fair, that is the definition of an officer. It is inculcated in us from the first day at Officer Candidate School where you are given ten things to do, each of which takes ten minutes to perform, and you are given ten minutes to do all of them. You are judged on what you decide to do all while the Drill Instructor is yelling at you. No matter what you choose you will be punished, but if you make a bad choice, or worse yet, no choice, then you will probably get washed out.
Often my job as a Marine Corps Officer was to evaluate the situation and decide, when conflicting orders are issued, which order is going to be the one we will break.
The problem with Jessup is not that he disobeyed an order. It’s that he showed such poor judgment in disobeying orders.
Is that really the case, or really so widespread? Is there evidence for this beyond the occasional anecdotal incident? University administrators are all about vets on post 9/11 GI Bill benefits – that’s guaranteed paid tuition right there, so recruit more if possible. In my experience, professors regardless of their political stripe quickly become big fans of vets in the classroom – they generally come on time, arrive completely prepared, and engage respectfully (compare to the 18 year olds sitting in the back playing on their phones). I went to a big conference a few years ago of college and university veteran services coordinators, and it felt like a contest to see what school could do more for their student veterans.
I still wonder (as I did on the member feed thread about this UCCS incident last week) if the problem at UCCS is not that universities broadly have little respect for military-connected people on campus but that at UCCS vets are around 18% of the student population – compared to 1-2% at other schools. So there might be civil-military divide issues that loom large there that aren’t experienced universally across the country.
Jessup goes out of his way to avoid being punished.
Right, that’s why he is a bad officer. Or one of many reasons.
My observation has been that when democrats talk about supporting the military, they are usually referring to pay and benefits, especially for family members not actually the ones getting shot at. Republicans tend to speak of supporting the military as enabling them to accomplish a mission.
To continue this thread about Colonel Jessup in A Few Good Men. The movie presents him as a tough SOB commanding a small unit of Marines who could, at any moment, be overwhelming by thousands of screaming Cubans! Or, at least, that’s what the audience has to believe in order for Jessup’s actions and stated beliefs to make any sense. But the truth is Guantanamo is not the 38th parallel. The Cubans have no interest in fighting the US Marines there. In time the lease will be allowed to run out and we’ll leave. So, in reality, Jessup is just a little martinet and his willingness to have his subordinates beat up (and kill) one of his own men – and then cover it up – shows that he’s not a real leader. In peacetime a lot of military commanders tend to make high rank because they know how to function as administrators, but when the shooting starts, they prove to be incompetent. It happens in every war with every army (there are exceptions, of course – R.E. Lee comes to mind). To take one example, US Grant was a failure as a peacetime soldier, but when the shooting started he proved to be the most competent US Army commander. It works in reverse, too: Petraeus was a good wartime commander, but he made stupid decisions as a peacetime leader (seriously – the head of the CIA doesn’t realize he shouldn’t turn over classified documents to his civilian mistress/biographer?). Given his view of how the men under his command should behave, one wonders what kind of wartime commander Jessup would have been.
I don’t disagree, but that’s not really what I was talking about – this is the rather more constrained issue of student veterans on campus, not everything to do with supporting the military more broadly, right? I don’t think the weird newsletter at UCCS is at all indicative of a broader trend across campuses.
I was a Marine Officer as well. The UCMJ is not optional or fall under orders that might be ignored. There is no excuse for a Marine Officer to issue illegal orders – which is what Jessup did, and he knew it, which is why he gave the orders covertly in order to give himself plausible deniability. Then threw his own Marines under the bus to protect himself when it might be discovered. The guy is a disgrace. Fortunately, only a fictional disgrace.
And I know that you know that it is impossible to follow every order issued. If you thought it was, then you didn’t read all the orders! :)
And politicians of both parties legislate more with respect to the needs of whatever defense industry will be spending money in their district than anything they said.
I treat the monologue as a proxy for the hostility and contempt the American Left has for the American military. So much so, in fact, that I’ve saved the audio on my mobile devices and listen to it from time to time.
Regardless of what kind of person the character of Jessup is in the movie (seems pretty contemptible to me), and maybe due to the fact that I have zero military experience, when I listen to that monologue what I hear is America herself being cross-examined (and found wanting) by the American Left (y’know, the folks who want to fundamentally transform her). In that context, I have no problem with it (and my in-laws’ surname is Santiago).
For your listening pleasure, in case you’d like to add it to your audio library, here’s a link to the file.