Page:Frank David Ely -Why defend the nation? Sound Americanism... (1924).pdf/70

66 are ever conscious that the trust is sacred and the duties many, stern, and exacting. Not the least of these lies in guarding against service changes inimical to efficiency which are ever being advanced by the uninformed or the seekers of personal power or advancement. The best safety against this evil lies in the widest possible publicity, affording the people full information and through this a basis for sound understanding.

But ours is a splendid heritage; for responsibility has ever been a developer of men, and of honor in men. Just as it made Infantry prestige by the manner in which our predecessors bore the responsibilities thrust upon them, so in the present and future generations they will as surely maintain it. As we bear our responsibility so shall our worth be tested and the prestige of our Arm confirmed.

Confidence is essential to success, and pessimism never inspires it. War has no place for "the man who knows it can't be done." Optimism is ever the key to greatness, but eternal vigilance is the price.

Prestige, like character, is a living fact. Prestige is character. And like character, prestige establishes the truth of its existence simply, quietly, irresistibly. It must live in the individual before it can exist in the organization. Nothing begets it more than honest pride in a hard-won past. The prestige of the West Point cadets as a military student body lies peculiarly in individual excellence and in pride of past honors, with jealousy for those of the present and future. Discipline is highly developed, that continuity of training which is so essential to its development being absolutely unbroken. This lesson is significant of service needs, frequent changes being destructive of much good derived from training. There is a form of discipline that enables men to perform efficiently on the defensive or from behind parapets, where both the liability to confusion and the personal danger are minimized; but that higher discipline which enables men to force the fight home, seek the bayonet's contact, and if need be die, is not easily acquired. It can only result from long, severe, and continued training. Such discipline is peculiarly Infantry discipline in that no other even measurably fits the Arm for its part in war. Upon Infantry falls the shock of battle; by it is both borne and inflicted more than four-fifths of the losses. To the existence of prestige discipline is as essential as it is difficult to instill. Once acquired, guard it as a precious treasure—lovingly, as a child; tenderly, as a wife; reverently, as a mother.

Infantry prestige will reach its flood only when every officer of our Arm appreciates a personal duty in maintaining it. Every man must realize the prohibitive nature of the existing conditions against training Infantry, and both the need, and the propriety of dignified attack on these conditions on all proper occasions, with a view to early correction or elimination. There must be manifest pride in her accomplishments—and history affords no end of reasons for such pride; and there must be appreciation of the unending care and patience required in future development and training. We must not expect a few workers to accept and satisfactorily discharge every